


Life is Strange: One Last Chance, Part 1

by Raharabin



Series: Life is Strange: One Last Chance [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Love, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:52:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 48,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7966762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raharabin/pseuds/Raharabin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set at the end of Life is Strange and after. Max makes a choice of her own, not to sacrifice Chloe or Arcadia Bay. Max rewinds to the beginning, and has one last chance to make things right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another Way

It was the final scene of this drama, of that Max was sure, but it was one she was desperate not to end. Having to make a choice, whether to save Chloe, or the entirety of Arcadia Bay. It felt like a choice one should never have to make. But in the end, Chloe was the real one to decide, and asked Max to sacrifice her to save everyone; Joyce, Frank, even the step-dad she hated. Though the whirlwind stole away every tear that came down Max’s face, she could still barely see the photo she was concentrating on. 

“Don’t you forget about me.” Chloe said from behind her, almost completely braking Max’s concentration. As if Max could ever forget about her. They said that true love was when the priorities of one’s life shifted, away from one’s own goals and dreams to that persons dreams and happiness. If that was true, then Max really did love Chloe Price. If Chloe had not asked Max to do this, Max doubted she would have the strength to go through with it at all.  
Suddenly, everything changed. The wind stopped howling, and Max would not feel Chloe’s presence behind her. She was once again in the past, when this amazing but terrible week had started, in the girl’s washroom, hiding away from sight. It was here that she had first tried to change the past, stopping Nathan from panicking and shooting Chloe. The door suddenly opened, but Max didn't need to look to know who it was, after all, she had gone through this several times already. 

“Let’s talk bidness…” She heard Chloe say, speaking to Nathan and then demanding money from him. Max knew what would happen next, Nathan would go crazy, and take out a gun and threaten Chloe with it. Meanwhile, Max fought an internal battle within herself. She knew that needed to let this happen, but it was the hardest thing she had ever done, she could barely make out what they were saying.  
“Get that gun away from me psycho!” She heard Chloe yell, and with the most terrible feeling in the world, Max knew that she was meant to just let it happen, to allow Chloe to die and restore the world to the way it was before.

Chloe Price… she wasn’t perfect by any measure. Once, for the briefest instant when everything was at its darkest, Max had even doubted her own love, worrying that it really was some kind of Stockholm syndrome. But as she heard Chloe’s voice one last time, all the times they had spent together flashed before her eyes; the best and worst times of her life. Max was suddenly certain of it. The silly things Chloe said, the heartfelt and honest feelings behind every action, the way she dressed, the way she acted, the way she looked at Max, the way she held Max. It was real…Max loved her with everything she had.

“No!!!” Max heard someone shout, and she was suddenly in front of Nathan and Chloe, reaching out to stop it all from happening. To her surprise, Max recognized the voice as her own. Even knowing what would happen to Arcadia Bay if she stopped Nathan from shooting that gun, Max realized she could never let go of Chloe. Both Nathan and Chloe were looking at her now, the surprise was written on their faces, neither had known she was here. Then Nathan’s gun went off, the gunshot almost deafening in the confined space. But when Max looked over in horror to Chloe, she saw that Chloe was still standing.  
Max stood there in confusion for a moment, not sure what had happened, then felt a coldness in her side. She looked down, then saw the crimson stain spreading out from under her shirt. It took her a moment to realize. Somehow, Nathan had shot her instead of Chloe. All three of them were silent for a moment, then Max’s legs gave way under her, and her vision span as she numbly fell to the floor. She heard the door open again, probably Nathan running out to get away from what he had done. Then another face came into Max’s view. She had vivid blue hair and blue eyes, and she was looking down at Max with panic in her eyes.  
“Max!?” She heard Chloe shout out her name. For the first time in what felt like a very long time, Max smiled. She wasn’t sure if this would destroy reality again by changing destiny, but Max had been given her power to make a choice, and she had made it. Maybe she would get lucky and stop the storm? A third solution, not to sacrifice Arcadia Bay or Chloe, but to sacrifice herself instead. Maybe it was because of the shock, but instead of pain from the bullet, Max just felt relief instead. She hoped that she had found a way out of this after all. If she died instead of Chloe, then maybe Arcadia Bay would still be safe, since Max wouldn’t be there to destroy it. Max used what strength she had left in her body to raise one arm, then took hold of one of Chloe’s hands.

“Chloe… be happy out there. It’s a strange world we live in.” Max whispered to Chloe, thinking about everything that had happened as her vision darkened. Chloe was shouting for help, but Max could barely hear her now. Instead she was thinking about everything that had happened. Though it had been terrible, watching her friends die around her, being tortured by Mr. Jefferson and desperately trying to make things right, it had also been brilliant. She had saved Chloe, and been given an entire week to spend with her before Max was to die as well. As Max’s head fell to the side, she saw the blue butterfly, the being that Max reckoned had started this all.  
“Thank you…” Max whispered to the butterfly. Though it might have been a trick of her mind, it looked like the butterfly suddenly started glowing a bright blue, then vanished as if it had never been there at all. Then Max’s own vision finally went dark, and she fell into the void. 

 

Even as the darkness claimed her, Max found herself in a new place. She was sitting on a hard wooden bench, with the wind blowing through her hair, she could see a sunset covering the ocean below her in a serene golden light. Max instantly recognised where she was. It was the lighthouse, where her first vision of the storm had happened, and where she had said a final goodbye to Chloe. But there was no storm here, it was calm instead. 

“Well, that worked out unexpectedly well.” Max heard a voice next to her say. Max looked over in surprise, then gasped as she saw the girl she had been searching for, the one she had never even met. 

“Rachel Amber…” Max said, not sure what was happening. Rachel smiled in response, answering

“Yep, the one and only. Nice work there Maximus.” She said. Max smiled back, then frowned. 

“Wowser… So is this like heaven or something? You died after all… and I just got shot.” Max said, looking to her side to notice there was no wound at all. Rachel inclined her said to the side as she thought of an answer, her earring lying slightly on her shoulder.

“Well… we could be halfway to heaven, but then it could be some crazy dream. This might just all be in your head. Are you sure that bullet Nathan gave you with was a fatal shot?” Rachel asked her curiously. Max looked back to where she had been wounded, thinking about it in confusion. Before she could speak, Rachel continued.

“I guess it doesn’t really matter, either I am a figment of your imagination, or I am here to guide you to the pearly gates. Either way, you have the same choice to make.” Rachel said, standing up and looking out at the ocean.

“Choice? What choice? I thought I had already made my choice when I got shot.” Max said, now in even more confusion as she stood up to stand next to Rachel. 

“You made that choice, and a clever move it was too. But now you have another choice.” Rachel said, looking at Max seriously this time. Max was silent, so Rachel continued.  
“You can decide to finish it here.” Rachel said, pointing to the lighthouse, which now seemed to be glowing faintly. “You can pass on to whatever comes after your life ends, and let go of all of the pain, fear and doubt.” Rachel explained, then turned to face the path leading back to Arcadia Bay.  
“Or you can try and go back. I don’t know whether or not you will make it, nor do I know what life will be like in this new world. I don’t even know if your sacrifice has averted the storm. But if you don’t try then you will never know.” Rachel said, looking towards Arcadia Bay wistfully.

Max finally understood the choice. In all honesty, a large part of her was tempted by the lighthouse. She knew that she would never be the same after what had happened, like a soldier returning from a bloody war, she would have scars that may never heal. But there were things keeping her back as well. She thought of everyone she cared about in her life; her parents and friends, Kate and Warren, hell even Victoria and David after everything that had happened. But more than any of them, Chloe, who would be left even more alone than before without Max. Suddenly a memory came flooding back to Max, when the two of them vowed never to leave each other ever again. She would be Chloe’s partner in crime, and Chloe was her partner in time. Even if the chance of her surviving was small, any chance of returning to Chloe was one she would take. Her mind decided, Max turned to Rachel, but before she could speak Rachel spoke first.

“I thought you would take that option. If you do make it back, then I wish you the best of luck. Tell Chloe that I’m sorry.” Rachel said, already knowing Max’s answer.

“Sorry for what?” Max asked.

“Sorry for not being able to come back. I have to move on now. But I’m happy she found you.” Rachel said as she started walking away from Max, heading up towards the lighthouse.

“Rachel wait! Is any of this real? Or is it just in my head?” Max asked her. Rachel laughed.

“How should I know? Life is hella weird after all. Goodbye Max, it’s a shame we could never hang out.” Rachel said. Even as she spoke she started glowing blue, just like the butterfly before. Rachel smiled once more at Max, waving goodbye to her before disappearing altogether. Max took a deep breath, and with one last look at the woods and Rachel, Max turned, heading down the path back towards Arcadia Bay.

 

Max opened her eyes. At first all she could see was white, and for a moment she thought she had died and was in heaven after all. Then her other senses came back to her. She could see the outlines of a balloon next to her, with the words ‘Get well soon’ written on them. She could smell a strong sent of disinfectant, and a more subdued smell of cigarette smoke and leather. She could hear the consistent beep of a machine next to her, along with the sounds of deep breathing. It took her a single moment to realize where she was, and who was by her side. Max turned her head, to find Chloe sitting next to her, her head on Max’s bed and fast asleep. Max smiled once more, tears of happiness forming in her eyes. She had done it. They were both alive and well, though her side ached, maybe just alive then. Trying not to wake up Chloe, Max looked around the room, taking stock of her surroundings. It was clearly the hospital, the various machines Max was still plugged into as well as the various ‘get well soon’ balloon and cards were a testament to that. If Max didn’t know better, she would have sworn that she was in the same room Kate had been in, but that was now a world that had never happened. Suddenly Max remembered everything that she had done had been unmade again. Kate might have jumped from that roof after all… Max looked around in a panic, trying to find the time or date. On the other side of the room was her bag, likely with her phone in it. But with a few wires attached to her, Max could not get to it on her own. While Max didn’t want to wake Chloe up, she needed to know how much time had passed, and more importantly if she had averted the hurricane destroying Arcadia Bay. Gently, Max tapped Chloe lightly on the shoulder, wincing from the pain the movement caused in her side. Chloe didn’t budge, and eventually Max gave her a shove, almost pushing her off the bed in the process. 

“What???” Chloe murmured fuzzily, slightly confused as to where she was. Then she remembered and looked at Max, relief clearly in her eyes.  
“Max! You’re awake! The doctors said that they weren’t sure if you would make it or not. Damn girl it is good to see your still with us.” Chloe said, then noticed the strange look on Max’s face.

“I guess you don’t recognize me after so long? Just saving some random girl you never met? The blue hair is new but…” Chloe continued to speak, and with a start Max remembered that this was the Chloe she had just met again since she had left as a kid. This Chloe had never worked with her to find Rachel, had never broke into the school with her, had never dared Max to kiss her. 

“Chloe Price, just because you have blue hair, some badass tats and several inches more height doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t recognize you.” Max said, smiling sadly as she realized that she was the only one to remember that other world. 

“Well, you never tried to contact me once, but I guess I should let you off the hook, ya’know, for the saving my life thing.” Chloe said, obviously trying to conceal just how confused she was now about how to feel. Over the past week (or so, it was hard to calculate time when you were a badass time traveller) Max had become skilled at reading people, especially Chloe.

“No, you shouldn’t let me off the hook.” Max said, looking at Chloe with a determined expression.  
“I left you just after William died, just when you needed me the most, and even after I was settled in, both in Seattle and here, I was too scared to contact you. I was afraid you would reject me after I left, which is exactly what I would have deserved. But I’m not leaving now, never again.” Max said, being as honest as she could be with Chloe. 

“Well yeah that’s true, you did kinda abandon me. How about saving my like makes us even?” Chloe asked Max, who smiled and nodded, then Chloe continued.  
“But then your parents are probably gonna come screeching in here any time now and drag you away as soon as you can leave, so that sucks.” Chloe said, her voice lowering and looking away from Max. Once, in another life, Max would have taken the offer, to get away from everything back to the safety of home. Not anymore though. Max was a lot older and wiser than she had been before.

“No, if they come then I will tell them I am staying here, after all, if I go back then the'll never let me out again.” Max said, joking about the real reason she was staying. 

“Wow Max, you might look the same as when we were kids, but you must have grown some balls in Seattle, you seem more… confident now.” Chloe said in surprise, to which Max smiled. Old Max from before this began was certainly like Chloe remembered. But a lot had changed over this crazy week. Then Max remembered why she had woken up Chloe in the first place.

“Hey Chloe, this might sound strange but it is very important. What day is it?” Max asked Chloe. Chloe gave Max a look like she was crazy, but answered.

“It’s still the same day, though I guess it’s technically tomorrow now. Good morning Maximus.” Chloe said, looking at her watch as she spoke. Max frowned. The hurricane would not have happened yet, but then the snow would have.

“Did it snow just before it got dark then?” Max said determinedly, half terrified about what the answer would be. Chloe gave her another crazy look.

“Oh yeah, and Santa gave everyone an early Christmas. It’s barely into October dude, ain’t no snow here.” Chloe said. Max finally gave a relieved sigh, sinking back into her pillow as she did so. That was a very good sign. It looked like Rachel or whatever figment of her mind it was had been right. Max honestly had no idea how she had avoided the apocalypse, but maybe it had just been about returning to the moment she had started changing time, and simply stopped messing around with it. For a brief moment Max raised her hand, to test whether or not she could still rewind, but then decided against it. If she could then she would just ruin things, it was better to just leave it alone, for good. If there was a choice to keep Chloe or keep her powers, then she would choose Chloe every time. Then Max realized something else, something brilliant. If only a single day had passed, then Max still had time to help everyone else; to save Kate from the bullies, and to stop Mr. Jefferson from killing Chloe, Victoria and Nathan. 

“Uhh hello? Earth to Max? That bullet remove some of your brain power? You totally just spaced out there.” Chloe said, interrupting Max’s thoughts. Max suddenly grinned, joy filling her as she realized what she could do now, with all the knowledge and experience she had gathered over the time. Somehow, after everything she had messed up, she had been given one last chance to change things, and she knew exactly what to do. It looked like Mr. Jefferson wouldn’t be going to San Francisco after all, not after everyone found out the truth.

“No, I really died and have returned as a zombie hipster!!! brains…” Max said jokingly, reaching out to Chloe, who graciously pretended to freak out for a moment.  
“Seriously though, if we are even after the whole taking a bullet for you thing, can I get a hug?” Max asked. Chloe nodded, reaching in and giving Max a strong hug. As she did so, Chloe never noticed the single tear drop down Max’s face, mostly because she suddenly winced in pain as Chloe brushed against the bullet wound. 

“OK zombie hipster, the docs said I should let them know if you woke up. You want me to come back after or are you gonna get more sleep?” Chloe asked Max as she sat back down.

“I do still feel exhausted. Fine, send in your doctors and healers. See you tomorrow?” Max joked again.

“Even after being shot, you still act like a dork.” Chloe teased as she got up and made to leave. Just before Chloe left, Max made sure to get the last word in.

“People loves dorks.” Max said quietly, remembering how Chloe had said something similar in the other time. As Chloe left, Max sat back in her bed, wincing as she felt more pain from the bullet wound. Sure, a lot of things were different, but Max had been given the one thing nobody else ever had; she had been given a second chance, and while she was exhausted, Max was almost burning with determination not to waste it.  



	2. Yet Another Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe fate is predestined, maybe it's all some strange coincidence. Max is back at the start once more, but now has all of the knowledge and experience from all her other timelines.

Everyone was standing in the rain. Max looks around in confusion, realizing that she was standing just outside her dormitory. At first she doesn’t understand what is going on, then she noticed that everyone’s looking up at the roof of the dormitory. With a terrible feeling, Max remembered where and when she was. Kate stood up on the edge of the roof above them, ready to jump. In the week that had never happened, Max had used her power to somehow stop time itself, giving her the chance to go up onto the roof and talk Kate down, one of the hardest things she had ever done. As Kate got ready to jump once again, Max instinctively raised her hand to stop or rewind time, anything that would give her a chance to reach Kate in time to stop it. But nothing happened. By giving up her powers to save Chloe, Max was once again just as helpless as everyone else, and felt every bit of that helplessness as she stood on the ground below Kate, desperately shouting out to be heard.

 **“Kate! Don’t do this! There are people that love you!”** Max shouted at the top of her lungs, trying desperately to help. But over the cries of everyone around her, the rain and the distance between them, Kate couldn’t hear her voice. As Max went to enter the building and try and reach her, Kate jumped from the roof. Time around them seemed to slow, and Max could only stand there and watch as her friend fell to her death.

 **“Kate! No!!!”** Max cried out, and was suddenly upright and back in her bed back at hospital, her hand reached out to stop Kate from falling. She could feel a pain in her side where the wound was, having been jostled by her movements in her sleep. It had all been a dream, or in this case a nightmare. But it was also a nightmare that could still happen in reality. Kate was another of Mr. Jefferson’s victims, and Max had barely saved her in the previous time. With what she knew now, Max was determined to save her again. She looked out the window, noticing the bright glow of the morning coming in through the windows. 

The door to the room opened, with a nurse that Max recognized coming in.  
“Maxine, I thought I heard you waking up. If it’s OK with you, you have some visitors waiting to see you, apparently it’s your parents.” The nurse said to Max. Max nodded her agreement, then remembered another detail. 

“Can you ask them to come in? Also I have another request if you don’t mind.” Max said quietly. The nurse turned back to her expectantly, and Max continued.

“Could you send all of these ‘get well soon’ balloons to a Ms. Christensen? I know she’s at the hospital as well. Tell her that it’s from a friend of her daughter Taylor.” Max asked the nurse. While in this time Taylor tried to bully both Max and Kate, Max knew that Taylor was deep down a good person, and both her and her mother would appreciate the gesture. The nurse smiled, saying

“You really are an everyday hero. Sure, I will take the balloons and send them along to her.” The nurse said, taking the balloons and leaving the room. Alone again, Max tried to relax on her bed again without aggravating her bullet wound. She had already helped one person, and she already had thought of several other ways to help everyone else. Running laps through parallel universes as a time lord had given Max a few advantages, namely the knowledge of how best to help and hurt everyone around her. And speaking of hurting..., Max reached over and grabbed her bag from the table next to her, getting out her mobile phone and a pamphlet of Blackwell academy, finding David Madsen’s number on it and send him a quick text.

_‘Madsen, I know you have been looking into Rachel Amber’s disappearance. You can find all the answers in the old Prescott barn near their estate- you know the one. There’s a hidden cellar inside, the password is 542. Mark Jefferson is the real culprit, make sure he doesn’t get away with this.’_

Max paused for a moment, thinking about what would happen to Jefferson when she sent this text. After everything that psycho had done, to her, Rachel, Kate, Chloe, Victoria and Nathan, he deserved much worse, but this would have to do. Just as she clicked the send key, the door opened again, quickly followed by a flash of long brown hair as her mother burst into the room, enveloping Max in a massive hug. 

“Good god Maxie, we came as soon as we heard the news. How are you? Does it hurt?” Vanessa asked quickly, still not letting go of Max.

“Don’t worry mum, I am fine. Thanks for getting here so soon.” Max said, wincing at her mother still calling her Maxie (and wincing because ouch please don’t hug an injured person that hard!). Behind Vanessa, her dad Ryan sat down on the edge of Max’s bed.

“You really gave us a scare there Max, we must have broken every speed limit between here and Seattle, and when we got here they told us you were asleep. What happened?” Ryan asked her. Once she had gotten out of Vanessa’s hug, Max decided to give them the more believable explanation, that she had just been in the restroom when everything had happened, then tried to intervene to save Chloe. 

“Oh Maxie, we are so proud of you for saving Chloe, but promise me you won’t do something like that again.” Vanessa said, the worry plain to see on her face.

“I don’t plan on being anywhere near guys with problems like Nathan any time soon. Sorry for worrying you so much.” Max apologized, understanding the pain and helplessness they must have felt all too well herself.

“Don’t blame yourself dear. Apparently the hospital is willing to let you go in a few hours after we fill out some paperwork, then we can get you back home to Seattle and you can take as much time out as you want.” Ryan said gently, to which Max adamantly shook her head.

“No! I mean I’m sorry, but I can’t go home right now.” Max said. Ryan and Vanessa exchanged a worried look, and Max patiently explained how Kate and Chloe needed her help right now. Once she had finished explaining, Vanessa spoke, with tears in her eyes.

“Ooh Max, you have no idea how proud we are of you. If you really want to stay and help your friends, then neither of us will stop you. Do what you want to do.” Vanessa finished. 

“You guys really are the best ya’know.” Max said happily, glad that they understood. Max gave each of her parents another good long hug, and they left the room to go fill out Max’s paperwork for her to leave. As soon as they were gone, Max got out her phone again, ready to start the next step of her plans. She quickly noticed a reply from David, asking who this was and how she knew. 

_‘I’m just trying to do whatever good I can, and protect your students at Blackwell. Best of luck.’_

Max finished her text, sent it and quickly deleted all of David’s messages. She knew that she needed to remain anonymous, there was no easy way to explain to David how she knew about the Dark Room and Jefferson after all. Once she had deleted the messages, she noticed a new text from Chloe, asking her if she could leave yet.

_‘Parents are just doing the red tape now. Come get me.’_

Max sent the message off to Chloe, then flicked through her contacts until she came to Kate. If she remembered correctly, then this was the day that Kate tried to commit suicide, meaning there was still time to save her. Max dialed her number, and in a few moments Kate answered.

“Max is that you? Please tell me you’re OK?” Kate’s worried voice came through the speaker on Max’s phone. 

“It’s me all right. Don’t worry I’m fine now.” Max answered.

“Thank god, I prayed all night for you. It’s nice to have my prayers answered with good news for once.” Kate said in a relieved voice. Max smiled again in relief. In the previous time, Kate had been occupied with her own problems. It could be that Max being shot had diverted attention away from Kate’s video, and kept the bullies from getting to her. That would make things much easier for Max.

“Thank you Kate. I’m happy to know that I have such a good friend in you.” Max said happily. Then before Kate could speak up Max continued.

“Kate, I need to tell you something. I know you have been through a lot recently ever since that Vortex Club party, but I can tell you that I totally believe that you were drugged, and whoever did it will get justice very soon.” Max said.

“Max…” Kate murmured in surprise, but Max wasn’t finished yet.

“I’m not finished yet. Thank you for praying for me for so long. I’ll always be there for you as well, and so many other people are. We all love you and care about you.” Max finished. For a moment there was silence on the line, then Kate finally answered.

“Max… I don’t know what to say, nobody has ever said something like that to me before. You really are a hero.” Kate said, and though Max couldn’t see her, she could tell from her voice that there were tears in Kate’s eyes. 

“You’re the real hero Kate. If it wasn’t for you then I would never have the strength and courage to get through this. You wanna meet-up this evening and watch a movie?” Max asked. 

“Sure, I would love that. I hope you get better soon.” Kate answered, then they said goodbye and hung up. As the chat ended, Max sat back in her bed, sighing in exhaustion but also contentment. This morning had certainly gone well. She had convinced her parents to let her stay, sent David Madsen after Jefferson’s trail and been there for Kate. And with Chloe coming over soon, it looked like today was Max’s day.

But there was one more trial to complete before Max could call this day a victory. Max looked over at the side of her bed, where her normal cloths were, along with a crutch. They had removed all of Max’s plug-ins the day before (thank dog, after the Dark Room Max found that she hated needles), leaving Max free to walk as soon as she felt she had the strength. Wincing through the pain, Max grimly stood up, and with a few grunts and choice curses managed to get changed. She was now doubly glad for her baggy shirts, as it hid the large swaths of bandage wrapped around Max’s midriff. What was more annoying for Max was the crutch, as she didn’t like looking so dependent on help, another new thing she must have picked up from her time travels. Just as Max finished getting dressed, there was a brief knock on the door, quickly followed by three people entering; Max’s parents and Chloe. 

“We barely recognized Chloe here, what with the blue hair and all…” Ryan started saying before being interrupted by Chloe.

“What your peeps mean to say is they think I might be a bad influence on you, convince you to take drugs and skip on school ‘n’ stuff.” Chloe said quickly, sitting down on Max’s bed and nosing through her get well soon cards. 

“Don’t worry, blue hair is just the cool new thing.” Max said, not mentioning that she secretly agreed with her parents assessment. 

“We never said that Chloe, we just didn’t recognize you at first. It’s good to see you again.” Vanessa said, trying to save the situation, to which Max had to stop herself from laughing. 

“Speaking of peeps, are you staying somewhere in Arcadia?” Max asked her parents.

“We are staying at a hotel nearby, and can stay as long as you want.” Ryan answered. Max smiled as another idea came to mind.

“I know you both will need to get back to work soon, but could you stay the night?” Max asked them, and they quickly agreed. Max then turned to Chloe.

“And if it’s cool with you, could we have a movie night at your place? Just like old times.” Max asked. Chloe snorted before replying.

“Not like old times, now we have step-douche to stop any fun at our house.” Chloe said bitterly.

“I wouldn’t worry about that tonight. He’ll be busy all day today, and Joyce would love to see us all again. Please???” Max finished, giving Chloe the puppy dog look until she relented.

“Sure thing Max. It’s not like step-douche could kick you out anyway.” Chloe gave in. Max gave her a quick hug in thanks before adding in another request.

“Oh, could we also invite Kate Marsh along? You don’t know her but she is awesome, and is going through hella trouble right now. She could really use the company.” Max added. 

“Sure, as long as you don’t say hella again, kinda weird coming from you.” Chloe said. Max smiled in anticipation for the night, then turned back to her parents.

“It’s a date then. Do you two mind if I hanged out with Chloe for a while, it has literally been years since we last spent time together, aside from the whole getting shot thing.” Max said to her parents, sort of lying but it was true to Chloe at least. They quickly agreed, and wished Max and Chloe a good time before leaving the room.

 

“Thought they would never let you go. Nice work on convincing them to allow you to stay. You really are Super-Max today.” Chloe said, punching Max in the arm.

“Ouch. Super-Max must have a weakness to actual fighting then, and needs a badass sidekick to back her up. Any volunteers?” Max asked as she used the crutch to stand up with difficulty. Chloe quickly stood up, giving Max a mock salute.

“Chloe Price reporting for duty mam, ready to kick-ass and take names.” Chloe said lightly.

“Sounds like a plan commander Chloe, but first, breakfast. Is Joyce working at the Two Whales still?” Max asked. She knew of course that she was. She even knew that right now there would be two truckers, a cop, her schoolmates Justin and Trevor as well as a few other people, having gone there before.

“You bet your scrawny ass she is. You need a hand getting to the truck?” Chloe asked, noting the difficulty Max was having with the crutch. Max was about to decline, but then smiled and nodded. With a crutch in one hand, and Chloe holding her other arm, Max hobbled out of the hospital, got into Chloe’s truck (which for once was not parked in the disabled zone, even Chloe had limits), and made their way to the diner. 

 

The drive to the Two Whales diner was quick, with Arcadia Bay being such a small town, as well as Chloe having a good taste in music. When they arrived, Chloe went off ahead to get a seat and speak to Joyce, leaving Max to walk on her own. Just before she reached the diner, Max looked over in the car park, noticing a distinctive camper van, belonging to Frank Bowers. Upon seeing the truck, Max suddenly remembered that Chloe still owed Frank a lot of money in this timeline, and neither of them was currently in a place to pay it back. Yet another worry about getting a second chance. Even though Max now knew Frank quite well, she doubted she could convince him to let the debt slide. They would just have to figure out something on their own. Sighing, Max entered the diner, putting her breakfast above concerns for the future. 

“Well there she is, Max Caulfield. It’s been a while girl, you look good.” Chloe’s mother Joyce said as Max came in, giving her a quick welcome hug. 

“It has been, you look good too Joyce. I’m sorry about William.” Max said as Joyce let her go.

“William is still here in our memories, and thanks to you I still have a daughter to rebel against me.” Joyce said, waving away Max’s sympathy. 

“Now an important question for you missy, what would you like to eat?” Joyce asked.

“Pancakes all the way.” Max said, already looking forwards to Joyce’s cooking, even she had technically done all this before.

“All right, you sit yourself down and I’ll be back in a bit.” Joyce said, heading off to the kitchens. Max sat down next to Chloe, who already had her legs up on the table and was relaxing.

“So super Max, what did you mean earlier about step-douche being busy all day? And how did you know about him at all? Did he tell you all bad stories about me at school?” Chloe asked curiously. Max blanked for a second, then remembered that in this time Chloe had never told her who David was. 

“Umm… I was trying to get in contract with you when someone at school mentioned David was with Joyce now. With all the trouble that Nathan caused with that gun, he’s going to be busy for a long while, right?” Max said nervously. Max had never been good at lying, especially to Chloe. Chloe studied Max’s face for a moment, then nodded. 

 

“Maxine Caulfield, do you have a moment to talk?” A stranger dressed in a formal suit walked up to their table and asked. Max looked over at the man in surprise. She didn’t recognize him, and this didn’t happen last time. 

“Who are you?” Max asked, now nervous about now knowing how to act. 

“My name is Jeffry Kensington. I represent the Prescott family in legal matters. Could we talk for a bit, in private?” Jeffry asked Max. Chloe looked over at the man suspiciously.  
“Wow you got balls, just coming up to the girl your kid shot and ran from.” Chloe said in an aggressive tone, but Jeffry ignored her and continued to look at Max. Max paused for a moment, not sure what to do, then nodded and stood up, picked up her crutch and followed him to another cubicle. Behind them, Chloe yelled out  
“If you’re not back five minutes then I’m coming in after you! After eating your breakfast of course.”

 

Sitting down with the man, Max calmed down a bit, looked him right in the eyes and waited for him to speak. She already suspected what this would be, but needed to see just where it would lead before she could act. Maybe old Max would have been scared about this, but now Max had faced down things far worse than socially engaging with a stranger. Max wasn’t half as shy as she had been a week or so ago. OK maybe she was, but she was better at dealing now.

“Firstly, I would like to apologize on behalf of the entire Prescott family for the accident you suffered the other day.” Jeffry began. As Max waited for him to continue, he coughed and went on.

“As you know, the Prescott’s are a large contributor to Arcadia Bay, and even pay for much of Blackwell Academy. We…” He was then stopped as Max rose up a hand to interrupt.

“I know about the Prescott’s, the school and Pan Estates. Skip the boasts and get down to business.” Max said, feeling more bold in this than ever before. It seemed like after everything she had gone through she really had changed. Jeffry paused in surprise for a moment, then continued.

“OK then. Nathan is completely distraught about what happened, but does not wish to tarnish his family and everything they have done for Arcadia Bay because of his own faults. Is there some kind of deal we can work out? One which can end this peacefully without a lengthy and expensive court case?” Jeffry said. When he finished, Max smiled slightly, realizing what this was really about. Knowing Nathan, he likely really was distraught, but this was purely a bribe from his father to keep him out of the public eye. Since Max had been the victim here, she could not only ruin the Prescott’s reputation but also take huge amounts of money from them in compensation. But thinking on it, she had a better idea in mind. Maybe it was because Chloe was still alive, but after everything she had been through and learned, she didn’t hate Nathan for what he did, he was as much as a victim of Jefferson as Kate was. 

“That sounds like a good idea. But I do have a few requests.” Max said seriously. Jeffry nodded, unsurprised. Max gathered her thoughts for a moment, then continued. 

“I will not bring any charges against Nathan for what happened, but in return I want the following. First, I want five thousand dollars in compensation, in cash. Second, I want you to pay for Rachel Amber’s funeral costs should she be found dead, and for a memorial to be placed for her in town. Third, I want the Prescott’s to aid local fishing businesses, and bring Arcadia Bay to what it used to be before Nathan’s father took over the Prescott fortune.” Max said. Jeffry blinked in surprise at the list of demands. Most people simply asked for money, and a lot of it. But Max only needed a small amount of money, all of which wasn’t even for her.

“Well, I will talk to Mr. Prescott about it, but I imagine that none of these requests will be an issue. Thank you for your understanding.” Jeffry said, shaking her hand before leaving the diner, with Chloe staring daggers at him as he left. As Max moved to join her again, Chloe spoke up.

“He try to bribe you to leave Nathan alone? I hope you took his offer and stuck it up his ass.” Chloe said angrily. Max smiled and shook her head.

“Nope, I took the bribe. Nathan will get in more than enough trouble without me adding to it.” Max said, thinking about David right now breaking into the Dark Room and finding everything. Chloe gave Max another crazy look before speaking.

“Alright Maximus. Personally I would have settled for vengeance, but you take your dirty money.” Chloe said annoyed, then turned as Joyce got back with their food.

“What on earth was that about?” Joyce asked curiously as she watched Jeffry drive away.

“Just some Prescott layer, it’s fine.” Max said dismissively, eager to dig into her pancakes. Joyce frowned at Max speaking so casually.

“Just some Prescott layer? You know how much trouble the Prescotts are?” Joyce said worriedly. 

“Hmm… they own my school, their destroying loads of forest for their Pan Estates, they own half the cops in the town, they are putting most of the local fishermen out of work, Nathan’s sister is the only one who is nice to Nathan and is away in Brazil right now, and Sean Prescott is even more of an asshole than Nathan is.” Max pointed out around stuffing food into her mouth. Joyce looked surprised. Even she didn’t know that much about the Prescotts. 

“Don’t worry about me Joyce, I’m not starting any fights with Sean Prescott.” Max said to calm her down. As Joyce was still in silent surprise, Chloe barked out a laugh.

“You a ninja too now Max? Even I didn’t know Nathan had a sister, is she hot?” Chloe asked curiously, then raised her hands to calm down her mother.

“Just kidding. I wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole.” Chloe lied. Joyce shook her head, already tired of them both.

“Just be careful the two of you. You already had one close shave, don’t give me a heart attack worrying about anything else.” Joyce said before allowing them to eat in peace. Once Chloe and Max had finished their meal they started to discuss their plan for a movie night.

“OK Maxi-Pad what do we need for a full movie night. First how many people are coming and how much booze do we need?” Chloe asked seriously. Max laughed at the last part.

“Chloe. Firstly we're underage. Secondly, it’s between us, our parents and Kate Marsh, who hasn’t drunk more than a glass of wine before. No booze.” Max said, to which Chloe gave a look of mock-horror.

“No booze? Won’t be much of a party without it, but I guess it would be awkward to be just me getting drunk surrounded by everyone else. So what do we need?” Chloe continued. Max thought for a moment before answering.

“Well, we need a movie, and we need enough snacks to make it through the movie too.” Max said, already thinking about what kind of snacks they needed.

“So popcorn right? And maybe soda?” Chloe suggested. Max nodded, liking the idea.

“Sure, both kinds of popcorn too, and only soda without caffeine in. I don’t want to keep my parents or Joyce up all night.” Max said. At first Chloe looked like she would argue, then nodded. Suddenly remembering something, she said

“Oh yeah, I already asked mum if it was OK to have a movie night with her, she was fine with it, even looking forwards to it.” Chloe said. Max nodded, glad that everything was going alright. At first she was worried that Chloe might not want to spend so much time with Max, considering how long they had been apart, but it looked like taking a bullet for her changed things. In the other timeline she had saved Chloe’s life too, and things had continued in a similar fashion. Though in that timeline, Max had also told Chloe about her rewind powers. Max didn’t want to repeat that, since she couldn’t prove it and she didn’t want to sound completely crazy. 

“So go to the store to stock up on snacks? Oh wait, I need to go and pick up a few things from my dorm too.” Max said, suddenly remembering that she still had Warren’s flash drive in this time, and half of the school was still worried she was dying in hospital.

“Abandoning me already?” Chloe said, her tone light but the meaning behind it clear to Max. Max’s expression darkened as she thought about how close she really had come to losing her, and she quickly shook her head.

“Never again Chloe.” Max said, remembering how close she had come to losing Chloe altogether. Upon seeing Max’s expression, Chloe walked around the table and gave her a hug.

“I’m just messing with you. You took a bullet for me, I understand.” Chloe said, trying to reassure her. Max’s mood had completely swung though, and for a moment she desperately held onto Chloe, as if terrified that she would lose her if she let go. Chloe thought she understood, but she had no idea how much Max had gone through to save her, and how much she meant to Max now. 

“Chill Max, were both alive and safe, Nathan can’t hurt us now.” Chloe said, still thinking this was about Nathan shooting her. Max didn’t have the heart to disagree, and eventually let go of Chloe so they could both stand up. 

“Seriously Chloe. I am never abandoning you again.” Max said again. Though Chloe still didn’t understand what was going on, she helped Max into the car and drove her to Blackwell Academy.

“How about you get Kate and get your school stuff sorted, and I will be in charge of snack collection?” Chloe asked Max. Max finally smiled again, thinking back to when Chloe put her on that blasted bottle hunt.

“Sounds like a plan. Meet at your place around eight?” Max asked. Chloe agreed, and left Max in the parking lot of Blackwell. 

 

Shifting the balance of her bag and her crutch, Max limped through the campus, heading for her dorm. As she did so, she realized just how little had changed to Blackwell, aside from one main thing of course. Max noted that Mr. Jefferson was absent from his class. Hopefully he had already been arrested by David, who was also absent. Smiling a vindictive smile knowing that Jefferson would have no idea how he had been found out, Max continued past various students, heading into the classrooms, heading over to where she knew Warren would be. While he might be worried about her health, she knew that even that wouldn’t be keeping him from his classes. Now smiling a more mischievous smile, Max decided to use the back entrance to the science class, and saw Warren in his usual seat with his back turned to her, looking at several bottles. As quiet as a ninja, Max crept up behind Warren.

“You should add potassium, like a ton of it.” Max informed Warren, who almost fell of his chair in surprise. 

“Max! You’re ok!” Warren almost shouted, embracing Max and making her wince as her wound hurt again. 

“Yep, takes a lot more than a bullet to stop Max Caulfield.” Max said cheerfully. 

“No kidding, and I heard you saved another girl too. It’s good to see you.” Warren said, relieved that she was doing well. Max then paused for a moment, not sure how to proceed. She knew from experience that Warren liked her, while she only thought of Warren as a friend. On the other hand, she also knew Brook liked Warren, and in a different dimension the two of them had even got together. Problem was, Max had no idea how to tell Warren. Then she had an idea. 

“Hey, I heard Brook mentioning that she really wanted to go out to an outdoor Cinema. I don’t think I am up for something like that after what happened, but maybe you would want to go with her?” Max asked Warren. Warren looked confused for a moment before answering.

“Umm… yeah I was actually thinking of asking you there, but if that’s the case then I guess I could ask her to go.” Warren said in confusion. Max almost laughed. Warren had not even noticed the significance of it, but that worked for her. 

“Nice, but you should be a proper gentleman and ask her yourself.” Max pointed out.

“I consider myself to be more of an intellectual than a gentleman, but I guess I can fill both roles. I’ll ask her next time I see her.” Warren said. 

“Nice. I just wanted to check up on you and need to get moving. But remember, add potassium, lots of it.” Max reminded Warren, pointing at the various bottles he had around him. Warren looked even more confused, but did as she asked, and was almost blown off his chair again.

“Woah, she blinded me with science.” Warren muttered in surprise. Max gave a small laugh, which quickly became a cough as it made her wound hurt again.

“Oh it hurts to laugh. Seriously though you should have added Chlorine instead. See you again soon.” Max said, leaving a bewildered Warren to his science experiments. Having spoken to Warren, Max decided to head back to her dorm. Lisa also needed her help, or more specifically needed to be watered. Lisa being Max’s plant. As Max headed back to her dorms, she paused for a moment, looking up to the roof. In another life, this day had ended with Kate trying to jump off it. This time would be different. As Max headed inside, she came upon another sight. Hanging out by the entrance to Blackwell was Victoria, Taylor and Courtney. Strangely, this had also happened to Max, but on the previous day. It was probably because Max had scared them off the spot back then, but had not been around to do it this time. While she hoped she wouldn’t have to cover them in paint again, there was still something Max wanted to do. 

“Hey Victoria, Taylor, Courtney, how you doing?” Max asked the three of them, who regarded her with surprise. Before all of this had started, Max never spoke to them, and they in turn occasionally bullied her. Typically, it was Victoria who spoke up first.

“Max… it’s good to see you. We were all worried about you after yesterday. Sorry for being such an ass earlier.” Victoria said quietly. Max almost took a step back in surprise this time. Before, she had to literally throw paint on Victoria to get her to move, and she was now being nice to her? Then again, Victoria also almost bullied Kate into committing suicide, then made a huge back turn then as well. It was hard to remember that Victoria was just like everyone else, just a girl who wanted to be popular and good at her work. 

“Don’t be. You know more about photography than me Victoria, that’s nothing to forgive.” Max said kindly. Victoria paused for a second, realizing that Max was essentially asking for a truce. In the silence, Taylor spoke up.

“Hey Max, my mum send me a text saying you send her some balloons. I didn’t even know you knew about that. I guess I am trying to say thanks.” Taylor said. 

“Of course, being in hospital is hard enough on your own. I’m sure you would have done the same.” Max answered her, then continued before they could say anything else.  
“I know we have never seen eye-to-eye before, but maybe we could hang out sometime in a day or so?” Max asked them all. Victoria and the others looked taken aback, and for a moment Max thought that they would laugh in her face, then Victoria nodded and said

“Sure, I would like that. Maybe you can even come to the Vortex Club party?” She asked. Max agreed, and then went inside the building. That was a definite change of pace from the last time. Things really had changed a lot.  
Max headed to her room, and opened the door, stepped inside and almost literally fell onto the bed. After everything that had happened today, she was already feeling exhausted. But there were a few more things she wanted to do. She could not change her bandages yet, but she still got out a fresh new set of cloths and got changed, then finally got around to checking her emails and Facebook. A minute later and she gave up. Her emails and social media was covered head to foot in various messages from everyone, either wishing her well or wishing for a swift recovery. It actually reminded her a lot of what everyone had done with Kate, but more positive. Typical that someone had to go through a life-risking circumstance for people to be nice to you. Then Max mentally took back that thought. It wasn’t that they were feeling guilty for not being there for you before, though that was part of it. It was also because people realized just what it would be like without you. It was said that you could only understand somethings worth when you lost it, and that seemed to be true about people too. Max had felt that first-hand when she had to choose between Arcadia and Chloe.

Sighing, Max put away her laptop then reached in for her bag for her mobile. It was then that she noticed something was wrong. She pulled out her analogue camera. Max always carried around her camera wherever she went, but this was the camera Chloe had given her in the other time rather than her old camera from when all this started. After a moment, Max realized what must have happened. Whenever Max rewound time, she kept everything she had on her, and apparently that included this camera. Suddenly Max looked deeper into her bag, fishing out various pictures, the ones she had taken during the other time. She held up one of them, a picture of Chloe photobombing her selfie, just before she had dared Max to kiss her. A single tear fell down Max’s face as she looked at it. This was a photo that the current Chloe did not know about, one that had never happened. The logical thing to do would be to destroy the pictures to hide the truth, but Max couldn’t bring herself to do it. These pictures were the one thing that proved that it had not all been a crazy dream, and despite all the horror Max had gone through, she couldn’t bear to let those memories fade away. Max put the pictures back into her bag. She would have to find a proper hiding spot for them later. For now, she had a friend to find. Just before Max left the room, she remembered something from last time went to water her plant, then picked up a book she had been borrowing from Kate.

 

Leaving her room again, Max walked down the hallway, coming to another door. Just before she knocked, Max looked over at the writing tablet next to the door. In the previous time, people kept on writing insults on Kate’s tablet, and Max diligently scrubbed them out each time. This time however, there was a different message.  
_‘May God watch over you Max.’_ The tablet wrote. Max blinked in surprise, then did a quick walk around of the corridor. On almost every tablet was a message to her, wishing her well. Even Victoria wrote a kind word for her. As nice as it was to see everyone thinking about her, Max realized that this would get old really quickly. She never liked being in the center of attention, especially for something like this. Max walked back over to Kate’s door and knocked on it. 

“Hey Kate, its Max, can I come in?” Max asked. 

“Sure it’s unlocked.” Kate’s muffled response came back. Max opened the door, unsure as to what she would see. The last time she had come in here, dark would have been a severe understatement if she wanted to describe it. Things had already changed a bit, but not too much. There was still a towel over Kate’s mirror, but the room itself was looking a bit tidier than before, and Kate had the curtains and window open, letting a fresh breeze enter the room. Kate was sitting at her desk as before, looking through some of her homework.

“Hey Kate. I brought you your book back. Thanks again for letting me borrow it.” Max said, putting Kate’s book down next to her bag. 

“Thanks Max, I actually need that for homework. That was very thoughtful of you… as usual.” Kate said, looking away from Max. Before, Max had gone in and out of Kate’s room after a brief chat. This time would be different. With the aid of her crutch, Max sat down cross-legged on the floor next to Kate, relaxing her back against a cupboard and making sure not to aggravate her wound any more. 

“How you doing Kate? Victoria been bitching again?” Max asked lightly. 

“No actually, everything has been pretty quiet since you… since what happened.” Kate said. Max nodded, glad that the attention had been drawn away from Kate’s video. Speaking of which…

“Kate, I’m sorry to bring it up, but I think Nathan Prescott was the one who drugged you at that party.” Max said sadly. Kate looked up at Max in surprise, then nodded. 

“I thought he was just trying to help me, but if he was carrying around a gun then he really was dangerous. I guess I’m lucky to be alive.” Kate said. 

“Kate, what Nathan did to both of us was just wrong. You can go to the police about it. Justice will be done.” Max said. Before, Kate had asked her about this, Max had really not wanted Kate to do anything. But with the Dark Room already having been exposed, it backed up Kate’s story 100 percent. 

“Really? Would you go with me when I do it? I don’t think they will believe me on my own.” Kate said, the relief plain in her voice. 

“It’s up to you Kate. I already decided not to press charges against Nathan for the gun, but this is what he did to you, and I will back up any choice you make.” Max said seriously. Kate looked confused as Max spoke. 

“Why not? Surely you deserve as much justice as I do, more even?” Kate asked. 

“You’re right about that, but I know a bit about Nathan, and its less than he is trouble than he is in trouble. I just think he needs help, not punishment.” Max said softly, hoping Kate would understand. Kate thought about it for a moment, and nodded.

“It’s not just black and white is it? God tells us to forgive. I’ll have to think about it.” Kate said, looking away for a moment. 

“You don’t have to decide right away, it might be best to leave it a day and think about it later. Oh about watching a movie tonight, is it ok if it’s with my parents and a few other friends? They are all really nice people.” Max said, hoping Kate would not back out of it. Kate thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

“Sure, your parents must want to spend more time with you after what happened. When and where will it be? Your room would be too small for everyone.” Kate asked.

“I am leaning towards 8? It’s at a friend’s house. If it’s ok with you I can pick you up just before and we can go there together.” Max said. Kate agreed, and Max changed the conversation to another topic.

“You want to go get some lunch and head over to the library? It looks like you could use a change of scenery as much as me.” Max asked, wanting to hang out with Kate for a bit more. Kate smiled and agreed, and the two of them spent most of the day together in the library, working on various things and finishing all the extra work they needed to do. The sun was just setting when Max got a text message from Chloe.

 

_‘Sup Max? We still on for movie night?’_

_‘Sure, I will gather everyone up and send them to your place. Be there in half an hour. ;D’_

_‘No emoji. sounds good. step douche not here yet.’_

_‘See you soon then. (^_^)’_

_‘NO EMOJI!!!’_

 

After a solid minute of Max harassing Chloe with various emoji, she relented and made a quick call to her parents, asking for them to go to Chloe’s house. That done, Max picked up Kate, and the two of them used the local bus to get to Chloe’s house. By the time they got there, Max recognized her parent’s car in the driveway. It looked like they were the last to get there. Max knocked on the door, and in a moment Joyce opened it up.

“Nice to see you made it fashionably late Max. And you must be Kate, nice to meet you.” Joyce said, allowing Kate and Max inside. As the two of them entered, Max saw her parents sitting on the couch where Joyce must have already been seated, but Chloe was nowhere to be found. As if on cue, Joyce spoke up.

“Chloe is in her room. Go get her and I will set up all your snacks.” Joyce ordered the two of them. As they went upstairs, Max turned to Kate.

“Oh, I should warn you that Chloe is a bit… blunt when you first meet her. But deep down she is awesome.” Max said. 

“Don’t worry Max, she can’t be any worse than Victoria.” Kate said reassuringly, but paused in shock after Max opened the door, revealing the thrasher-pit that was Chloe’s room. Chloe was going through emails as they entered, and looked up as the door opened.

“Nice of you to finally make an appearance. What movie did you want to watch anyway?” Chloe asked, her screen already showing various thriller and action movies. 

“Actually, I don’t think I am up for one of those movies. How about… Finding Nemo?” Max asked. Chloe snorted in reply. 

“Kiddies movie it is then. Hope nobody falls asleep watching it.” Chloe warned, trying to find the movie online. 

“I thought you were the one famous for doing that?” Max reminded Chloe, and once Max had introduced Kate to Chloe, the three of them went back downstairs to find that everyone else was ready. Chloe plugged her laptop into the TV, and set the movie up. They quickly discovered that there wasn’t enough space for everyone, and so Joyce, Ryan and Vanessa sat on the couches, while Max, Kate and Chloe sat on the floor on pillows in front of them. There still wasn’t much of a huge space for everyone, but nobody seemed to mind. 

As the movie started, Max could hear her parents and Joyce talking quietly. She had almost forgot that because of Chloe and her spending so much time together as kids, Joyce was good friends with her parents. Chloe was sitting to Max’s right, and at first seemed to be pretending to not enjoy the movie, being too cool for it probably. But as the movie continued, Chloe got settled back into it. Max knew that deep down Chloe enjoyed these kinds of movies, it was part of the reason she chose it in the first place. Though at first Kate seemed to find it a bit awkward being surrounded by people she had only just met, eventually she seemed to get comfortable and enjoy the movie. As it continued, Max learned that Kate had actually never seen it before, as her parents wouldn’t let her watch these kinds of movies as a kid. As for Max herself, she was just happy to have everyone around. It seemed like Kate was feeling much better than before, and everyone seemed to be getting on well together, even Chloe. When David finally finished work and arrived, Chloe didn’t even have a go at him, David simply just went upstairs to get an early night. 

As David went upstairs, he gave one last look back to Chloe, as he if wanted to tell her something, then thought better of it and left. Then Max suddenly remembered that it was only this morning that she had given him the tip about the Dark Room. He must have just found out what had really happened to Rachel Amber. Chloe had been incredibly close to Rachel, and was still holding onto hope that she was OK. Chloe was going to have a nightmare of a day tomorrow. Max put an arm around Chloe as they continued to watch the movie. At first Chloe gave a confused look to Max, then shrugged and put an arm around Max too. Settled into the warm embrace of Chloe and surrounded by friends and family, Max felt her worries drift away, and her exhaustion swiftly got the better of her and she fell into sleep, her head on Chloe’s shoulder. 

The movie finally ended, and on the floor Kate gave a long yawn. On the couch, Joyce noticed that Max had fallen asleep during the movie.

“Well that’s a first, when you were kids it was always you to fall asleep watching movies.” Joyce said quietly to Chloe, as to not wake Max up. Chloe smiled up at her, not willing to jostle or speak to loudly in case Max woke up.

“I guess we should be heading back to our hotel then, we need to leave early to get back for work.” Ryan said, looking over at Vanessa for agreement. 

“I guess so. Kate do you want a ride back to your dorm?” Vanessa asked Kate, who sleepily accepted. 

“Max can stay with us the night. She looks tired enough as it is. That OK with you two?” Joyce asked Ryan and Vanessa.

“Sure, it will be just like old times. Give our love to Max when she wakes us, and tell her we can come down whenever she needs us. ” Vanessa replied. With Ryan, Vanessa and Kate all leaving, Joyce gave a quick look around the room, and decided that she could clean it all up in the morning.

Swiftly realizing that they couldn’t get Max to bed without waking her, Chloe gently shook Max to wake her up. Max groggily looked around, wondering what had happened.  
“Did I fall asleep? Is everyone else gone?” Max asked sleepily.

“Yes, your parents are driving Kate back to school, and they said that they can come back down to visit whenever you ask.” Joyce informed her. Max nodded, yawning quietly. 

“You look like you could use some rest. Wanna crash in my room for the night?” Chloe asked. Max smiled and nodded, and the three of them locked up the house and went upstairs. Joyce said goodnight to the two of them, and they went into Chloe’s room. Max went straight for the bed, falling allowing herself to fall onto it. Chloe meanwhile picked up her phone and swore under her breath.

“Dammit Frank, just fuck off once in a while.” Chloe muttered, replying to him. From the bed, she could hear Max quietly speaking.

“Don’t worry about it, I got it covered.” Max said. Chloe rolled her eyes. 

“Max, you don’t even know who Frank is. You might be able to protect me from a gun, but that’s not my only problem apparently.” Chloe said, slightly annoyed that Frank had to ruin the moment. Max reached out to her bag, looking as if she wanted to tell Chloe something, then her hand fell and she started to get undressed. 

“Sure, make yourself at home.” Chloe said sarcastically, putting her phone away and dimming the lights, letting the fairy lights she had around the room illuminate them.

“Will do. Quiet now, sleep time.” Max said sleepily, undressing until she was just in a light shirt and underwear, and inspecting the bandage under her shirt for any damage. Chloe suddenly felt a bit of remorse. Max had saved her life, and seemed to almost never bring it up, just happy to be friends. Max had changed dramatically from the person she once knew, but not in a bad way. She just didn’t seem to be afraid of anything now. There was also something else off, something that Chloe couldn’t put her finger on, but she just assumed it was because of Nathan. Chloe sighed, feeling more tired than she should be, and also got undressed, turning off the lights and lying down next to Max. As they lay next to each other, Chloe finally said what had been meaning to say for a while now.

“Hey Max, thanks.” Chloe said quietly. Max shifted slightly, then replied.

“You would have taken a bullet for me. Let’s call it even for me bailing on you.” Max said. Chloe shook her head slightly.

“No, though thanks for that too. I meant thanks for coming back, even if it was just for your education.” Chloe said. Max was silent for a moment, and Chloe was starting to think she had fallen asleep again when Max spoke up.

“Your half right. I did originally come back for the school. I was too scared to find you, too scared you would reject me, which was exactly what I would have deserved. But now I think my priorities have changed. I came here for the school, I’m now here for you.” Max said quietly. Even as Chloe felt a small thrill of happiness from hearing Max say it, she still had to rebuke it.

“You obviously don’t know me that well anymore Max. I might be a bad influence on you.” Chloe warned. 

“The only thing you do I disagree with is parking all over the disabled zone, most of the other stuff is cool by me.” Max murmured sleepily. Chloe smiled, how Max knew about her doing that she didn’t know.

“OK, I promise to stop doing that, but seriously Max, you barely know anything about me anymore. You shouldn’t say things like that before you know what it means.” Chloe warned her again. Max gave a long sigh before replying.

“I know you better than you think, but can we talk about it later? I am hella tired.” Max said. Chloe gave a light laugh at Max saying hella again. She was already a bad influence on Max. 

“OK Max. Sleep well.” Chloe said. 

“You to Chloe.” Max murmured, before swiftly falling asleep. Chloe took bit longer to fall asleep, wondering what Max had meant about knowing her better than she thought. Had the other students been telling stories about her? Or David? Chloe doubted it, since Max seemed to think highly of her. In the end, Chloe gave up on it, and settled into a deep sleep next to her old friend, unaware that Max really knew her because of a time that had never happened.

 

Max looked around in confusion. She didn’t recognize her surroundings at all. She was sitting in a chair, and there was a lot of bright light.

“I see you finally woke up.” A voice said, the person hidden behind the light. Even though Max couldn’t see him, she recognized the voice immediately. 

“Jefferson! What? How did I…?” Max asked, a mixture of confusion and horror in her voice. Mark Jefferson walked out into the light, and as Max tried to move, she realized that she was tied to the chair. She was in the Dark Room all over again.

“I thought you might be confused, Nathan couldn’t get his hands on the usual drugs. These ones will still make sure you forget everything, but they also seem to have the side effect of causing hallucinations. I must admit that it makes photography more of a pain.” Jefferson said, pointing to a small stack of discarded photographs on the floor next to him.

“But you should be in jail? I had fixed things!” Max almost shouted, partly in pain for having to experience this again, and part in anger at seeing Jefferson again. 

“You fixed things? Max you haven’t done anything. I must admit that I was worried that you had lost your true innocence at seeing that blue-haired bimbo of yours get shot the other day, but it doesn’t seem to have had too much affect. Or did your hallucinations show her still being alive? That would explain why you said her name so much.” Jefferson said, idly changing the angle of one of his cameras. Max looked away, still refusing to believe what he had said. There was a sudden flash of light, and Jefferson’s camera went off.

“Perfect, that’s what I like about you Max, you are so naive you seem to be willing to believe anything. You might be my best model yet.” Jefferson said happily.

“You bastard! She can’t be dead!” Max shouted angrily, trying to pull free of her binds.

“Oh really? I was under the impression that you saw her die. It was a bit worrying when Nathan was arrested, but he did make an excellent scapegoat. He didn’t even tell anyone about me or this room.” Jefferson continued, not caring in the slightest at Max’s outburst. As the first few tears began to fall down Max’s face, Jefferson smiled as he picked up another camera, going in for a closer shot. As soon as he got close enough, Max kicked out, the straps on her leg falling away. The kick took Jefferson in the leg, making him fall over and break the camera he was holding. As Max desperately tried to break through the other bindings, Jefferson swore loudly, slapping Max across the face. 

“Come on Max! You had to rebel and break such an expensive camera! And ruined the best picture of the set too. I was hoping you could work with me on this, but obviously I need to sedate you again.” Jefferson said angrily, walking quickly over to another table and taking out a syringe. 

**“No!!!”** Max shouted as he got closer, trying desperately to get out of this, but to no avail. Jefferson pushed her neck to the side, and pressed down with the needle. 

 

“Max! Max wake up!” A voice suddenly shouted. Max shot up like a rocket, her arms going to cover her face and neck, a scream still on her lips. 

“God damn Max, you ok?” The voice asked again. Max looked over her side, her arms still raised protectively around her. It was Chloe, safe and sound. It took Max a moment to realize she was back in Chloe’s room, and her side hurt awfully. 

“What the hell was that? You were screaming and thrashing around. What happened in that nightmare of yours?” Chloe asked, concerned about what had just woken her up. Max looked around the room once more, her heart slowly calming down as she realized that it had all been a nightmare. 

“I was…” Max started to say, they realized that this Chloe had no idea what the Dark Room was, and neither should she. “I was back in that restroom with you and Nathan again.” Max explained. Chloe rose an eyebrow, not believing Max at all.

“Really? You were yelling at someone called Jefferson. Isn’t that the name of that photography teacher at Blackwell?” Chloe said suspiciously. 

“Y…yeah… umm…” Max started to stutter, having no easy excuse come to mind. Max always stuttered when she got nervous. Suddenly Chloe looked down, frowning.

“Dude, there is blood on your bandage.” Chloe pointed out. Max looked down to see what she was pointing at. In her thrashings her shirt had risen up, and where the bandage was covering her wound there was a red blur as blood soaked through her bandages. Now that she was more lucid she could feel the pain burning painfully as if it was on fire.

“Crap, you must have reopened your wound. Stay right here, I’ll be back in a moment.” Chloe said, swiftly getting up any hurrying out of the room. After Chloe left, Max still sat in the same position she had been in before. She noticed that her hands were still shaking. It had felt so real, and for a moment there she had actually believed Jefferson. She could almost feel the phantom pain of the needle going into her neck again, though it was small compared to her reopened wound. Suddenly the door opened again, and Chloe led Joyce into the room. Joyce was dressed in a simple nightgown, and she sat down next to Max and inspected the wound. Chloe switch on the main light and sat down on Max’s other side, putting her hand on Max’s shoulder to reassure her. 

“Don’t worry Max, Joyce started taking lessons for accidents just like this after dad died.” Chloe explained. 

“Chloe, can you get the med-kit from under the bathroom cabinet?” Joyce quickly asked, and for once Chloe didn’t argue, running back out of the room.

“Had a nightmare? You even woke us up with that scream. For a moment David thought he was back in the war.” Joyce asked casually, her tone calm despite what had happened. 

“S…sorry” Max stuttered, still panicked by everything. 

“Don’t be sorry about it Max. David has a lot of nightmares too, with PTSD and all.” Joyce said reassuringly, and then Chloe got back into the room, handing Joyce the kit. 

“Max dear, I need to redo your bandage. Can you raise your arms so we can take your shirt off?” Joyce asked calmly. 

“Umm… sure.” Max said after a moments pause, holding her arms out. From behind her, Chloe pulled Max’s shirt off, checked it for blood and put it across a nearby box. 

“Ok, now lie back on the bed, and don’t squirm.” Joyce instructed, and Max silently followed. As soon as Max lay back, Joyce picked up a set of scissors, and quickly cut through Max’s bandages. As Joyce pulled away the last bloody rag, Max gasped in pain as it pulled at her wound slightly, and Chloe took hold of her hand. 

“Hmm… no signs on infection at least. You must have really given one hell of a jerk to make a mess like this though.” Joyce said disapprovingly as she gently cleaned the wound.

“Is it bad? Do I have to go back to the hospital?” Max asked quietly.

“I don’t think so, we should be ok with just cleaning it up then spraying some of this disinfectant on it and apply a new bandage. Just to warn you, this will sting a little.” Joyce informed Max just as she sprayed the disinfectant onto it. Max whimpered slightly in pain, tears coming to her eyes. 

“Ok, can you sit back up again, I need to put the new bandage on.” Joyce said, and Max struggled back up. Then Chloe helped Joyce in wrapping the new bandage around Max’s midriff, before taping it together and giving her back her shirt.

“You’re the best mum.” Chloe said to Joyce. 

“No problem, as long as you don’t make a habit out it. Speaking of which. Max can you raise your hand?” Joyce asked.

“What? Uh…” Max started to say, but under Joyce’s gaze rose her free hand into the air. It was still clearly shaking after the nightmare. Joyce then took out a small flashlight, and flashed it into Max’s eyes. 

“Everything ok mum? What’s wrong?” Chloe asked, confused. Joyce ignored her and continued to look at Max.

“Max, did you have a nightmare the last time you fell asleep too?” Joyce asked. Slowly, Max nodded, afraid to say anything.

“You might have some form of PSTD. I learned a lot about it when I first met David. But you shouldn’t have been able to get it from what happened in the girl’s room. Max, has anything else happened?” Joyce suddenly asked, looking straight at Max, who adamantly shook her head, afraid if she spoke she would sound crazy.

“You sure Max? You know you can tell us anything. I can have Chloe go out of the room if you just want to tell me.” Joyce said. Max continued to shake her head, and Joyce sighed. 

“You don’t have to deal with this on your own you know? If you ever feel like talking, I’m always here.” Joyce said sadly, then wished them both goodnight and left the room. As Joyce left, Chloe looked back at Max in confusion.

“Max what happened? Did that Jefferson person do something to you? If he did I swear I will hang him up by his balls!” Chloe said angrily. Max suddenly had another flashback, one where Jefferson shot Chloe in the head. She shook her head again desperately, partly to deny it, partly to reject the memory. 

“Come on Max. After what you did you should know you can trust me on this right?” Chloe said, putting a hand on Max’s shoulder. Max finally took a deep breath, feeling a bit calmer than she did before. 

“Sorry Chloe. It’s not because I don’t trust you. I just don’t think I can talk about it right now. Can you leave it? At least for now?” Max asked slightly desperately. Chloe sighed and sat back down on the bed next to Max.

“OK, I won’t force this, I just want you to be happy, and not having nightmares every night.” Chloe said sadly. 

“I want the same thing, let’s just not deal with it right now ok?” Max asked, and Chloe finally nodded, going to turn the light off and went back to bed. Chloe then noticed that Max was still shivering, and not due to the cold. 

“Come here.” Chloe said, taking Max by the shoulder and gently pulling her back down until she was lying on the bed. 

“Don’t worry, I’m here, and I’m not leaving either.” Chloe said, putting her arms around Max’s smaller frame. For a moment Max still lay there rigidly, then eventually relaxed in Chloe’s arms. 

“Thanks Chloe.” Max whispered.

“Hey, you were there for me, now I can be here for you.” Chloe whispered back, and after a while Max fell into a proper nightmare free sleep, feeling safe with Chloe next to her. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! If you're wondering just how Max is up and about the next day after being shot, then here's the answer- plot convenience! Honestly I have no idea whatsoever what happens when someone survives being shot, so plot convenience will have to do.


	3. Life Never Stops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a new day in Arcadia Bay, and Chloe learns the truth.

Despite the terrible nightmare, Max managed to get a proper sleep throughout the remainder of the night, and in the morning Max and Chloe properly woke up, got changed and went downstairs. They found that Joyce was already getting breakfast out, while David was upstairs in the shower.

“Good morning you two. Did either of you get any more sleep?” Joyce asked them without turning round as they came in.

“I did at least, not sure about Chloe.” Max said, looking to Chloe who agreed. 

“That’s a relief. I’m cooking eggs and bacon for breakfast, you both want some?” Joyce asked.

“That sounds awesome, thanks Joyce.” Max said happily. Chloe stood there for a moment longer, in an inner debate about whether a free breakfast was worth seeing David. Noticing Chloe’s expression, Joyce went on in a sad voice.

“David also asked that you wait for him to come down. He needs a word with you.” Joyce said quietly, to which Chloe gave an annoyed grunt. 

“Then more reason for me to get out now.” Chloe said, looking up at where David was with annoyance. 

“Not now Chloe, this time it’s important. You’re not in any trouble, and David really should be the one to tell you.” Joyce said, unable to give Chloe the news herself. Max suddenly put a hand over her mouth in sadness, remembering what the news was, and sat down in her chair straight away. 

“Oh god, if your telling me I’m going to be a big sister or something I might throw up.” Chloe said, now annoyed. 

“Chloe! It’s nothing like that. Can you please just sit down and wait for David?” Joyce asked. For once, Chloe noticed the desperation in Joyce’s voice and did what she was told, sitting down at the table next to Max. Joyce soon brought them breakfast, and they both ate in silence as they waited for the news. Soon after their finished, David walked down the stairs. He didn’t look angry this time, he just looked sad. He didn’t say anything at first, he just sat down opposite of Chloe, who was giving him an indignant look. 

 

“Chloe… I don’t know how to say this. I know you were close to…” David began, then Chloe interrupted him.

“Just spit it out already. What’s so bad that nobody can bare to tell me?” Chloe demanded angrily. David didn’t get angry at her this time, he just continued, looking Chloe right in the eye as he spoke.

“We found Rachel Amber. I’m sorry Chloe, she’s dead.” David finally said. Chloe blinked in confusion, refusing to believe him. 

“What? She can’t be! What happened? She can’t be…” Chloe spluttered, a tear falling down her face as she looked around for a way out, standing up out of her chair as if to leave.

“I received an anonymous tip yesterday, it told me exactly where I needed to go. Rachel… Rachel was killed by that bastard Nathan Prescott and a school teacher called Mark Jefferson. They have both been arrested. I’m so sorry Chloe.” David explained, actual sympathy in his voice. 

“What? No, Rachel was… Rachel…” Chloe eventually petered off, breaking into tears as she started crying. Chloe lent against the wall behind her, dropping to the floor as she cried out in pain and anger. Max immediately went over to her, putting an arm around Chloe and allowing her to cry it out. Joyce knelt down next to her as well, putting a hand on her other shoulder while David stayed where he was, knowing his presence would cause more pain than comfort right now. Eventually Chloe stopped crying, looking back up at David with bloodshot eyes. 

“You sure? Is there any chance that you’re wrong?” Chloe demanded in desperation. 

“I’m sorry Chloe, the tip led me right to their hideout, and there is enough evidence to convict them both. It also led is to where they buried her body. I’m sorry but she’s gone.” David explained as gently as he could. Chloe continued to cry, and everyone around her waited patiently for her. Max’s phone gave a quiet buzz from a text, but she ignored it and continued to hold Chloe, who was now holding onto Max and crying some more. Then she suddenly looked up, a blazing anger in her eyes as she looked over at Max.

“Max, you said Jefferson’s name when you were having that nightmare. What did that bastard do to you?!” Chloe almost shouted in rage. Max looked around in panic. While Jefferson had done terrible things to her, it had only been in the other time, something Max couldn’t possible hope to prove, especially as there was proof of all his other victims, including Kate and Rachel. 

“Nothing, I had no idea about any of this. It was something else.” Max protested badly.

“I swear, if he hurt you in any way…” Chloe continued angrily, then Max interrupted her.

“Nothing happened to me, I’m just as surprised about this as you were.” Max said desperately. Chloe and Joyce seemed to let it go, but David continued to look at her in suspicion. David always was the suspicious one after all. Max hadn’t even mentioned the surveillance he had put all around his house. She would have to deal with that at some point later though. Max was brought rapidly back to the present as Chloe started crying again, holding onto her for support. Eventually she heard David tell Joyce he was needed for evidence at the police station, and David left soon after that. After a while, Chloe stopped crying.

“I need to be alone for a while. I’ll be up in my room if anyone needs me.” Chloe stated, then went up to her room without another word. 

 

Alone with Joyce now, Max sighed. That had gone in a very similar fashion to the previous time, but at least this time Chloe did not have to see Rachel’s remains herself. Then Joyce broke in through her train of thought.

“I know you don’t want to talk about this Max, and I won’t force you to. I just want to let you know that you can talk to someone when you are ready.” Joyce said calmly.

“Thanks Joyce, I understand.” Max said back. Joyce suddenly sighed, exhausted despite how early in the day it was.

“We really can’t catch a break this week can we? First you taking a bullet for Chloe, and now this. At least now justice can be done.” Joyce said sadly. Max shook her head, this was actually very quiet compared with the other week for her. Nobody had died for one, nor was there any drama surrounding Kate or David. 

“You got that right. At least now justice can be done for Rachel and the others.” Max said, still thinking back. Joyce suddenly looked at her.

“David didn’t mention any others.” Joyce said, now almost certain about what had happened. Inwardly, Max cursed her slip of the tongue, and thought of a quick excuse. 

“I think something also might have happened to Kate Marsh a while ago.” Max said, then continued to explain what Kate had told her. 

“That poor girl. That must have been terrible to go through.” Joyce said in sympathy, putting a hand on Max’s shoulder. Max nodded, then remembered that she had received a text. As Joyce started to clean up all the dishes, Max checked her phone. The text was from an unknown number, but it was obvious who it was from. 

_‘Maxine, this is from Jeffry, the Prescott attorney. If your offer from yesterday is still available, Mr. Prescott would like to accept it and all of your conditions. If you would still accept, please let me know as soon as possible.’_

Max read through the message quickly. She knew that the Prescotts were likely only accepting the deal to avoid any further involvement because of Nathan’s arrest for the discovery of the Dark Room, but Max was OK with it. Jefferson was the person who needed punishment in all this after all. 

_‘Thank you for accepting my offer. I accept the deal, and expect the Prescott’s to follow my conditions from now.’_

Max send the text back. At least now she had solved a few more things. Just not all of them. Then she looked at her watch, realizing that she was late for class. Then Max checked her email on her phone. As expected, there was a new mail from Principle Wells, stating that due to a police investigation into a teacher that all classes were cancelled for the day, and that he would update students as soon as he could. Max sighed.

“Well, it looks like school's cancelled. You need any help at the Two Whales?” Max asked. 

“Thanks for offering, but I will be fine. Why don’t you spend the day with Chloe? I know she could use your support now.” Joyce said, already packing her own bag to go out. 

“Sure. Try and have a good day at work.” Max said.

“I doubt anything can be good today, but I’ll give it a shot. See you later.” Joyce said, leaving the house. Max now had the house to herself. Chloe had told Max that she wanted to be alone for a while, and Max was willing to respect that wish. Contenting herself to waiting downstairs, Max reached over for her bag, taking out the camera Chloe had given her in the other time. She looked at it for a moment, almost in confusion. After everything that had happened, Max realized with a surprise that she had not taken a single photo since she had changed everything. Turning the camera around, Max took a quick selfie with it, standing in the same position she had years ago just before William had died, a time that she had almost destroyed with her desire to make things better. Max wasn’t sure if she could change things anymore, she hadn’t tried since the shooting, and she didn’t want to either. If it had been using how powers that had brought the hurricane, then she couldn’t risk ruining what she had now. As much pain and suffering everyone was going through in this time, it was nothing compared with her alternatives. Max had already had to watch Chloe die so many times already, she couldn’t bear to see it any more. The picture printed out of the camera a moment later, and Max barely recognized the person in the picture. She looked more serious than before. Ironically, it illustrated what Jefferson had been trying to do to her in the Dark Room; the change that came with lost innocence.

Speaking of which, Max put her camera deep inside her bag, and took out her phone instead. Going onto the internet, Max did a quick search for unusual weather over the last two days in Arcadia Bay, and blessedly found no mention of it. In the other time various strange events occurred around the Bay, as if trying to warn Max of what she was doing. It seemed like no matter what else she had done, Max had finished with destroying reality as she knew it. Max then went on a search for the local police, looking to see if there was any mention of it. As soon as she did, Max saw David’s report. It mentioned Max’s anonymous tip leading David to the Dark Room, and the subsequent arrests of Nathan and Jefferson. Max finally gave a bitter smile when she saw a picture of Jefferson being put inside a police car, a look of complete disbelief on his face. He had no idea how they had caught him, because he didn’t know what Max did. He had no idea of the pain he had caused her, had no idea that Max hated him so much, or why.   
Max was not by nature a hateful person. She didn’t even hate Nathan after everything he had done, nor principal Well’s or anyone else but Mark Jefferson. Unlike the others, Jefferson had crossed the line, he was not being manipulated by anyone, nor was he blinded by his own fears and inadequacies. But he had done the one thing Max could never forgive. He had wished and brought harm on those that she loved, for no reason other than his own creepy enjoyment and ‘art’. He killed Rachel, and in her time Victoria and Nathan too, as well as almost killing Kate and herself. But more than that, he had killed Chloe, and Max could never forgive him for that.

Max then saw a picture of Nathan being put into another police car, and saw the mixture of anger and fear in his face. Nathan was the one she felt sorry for in all this. Being driven almost insane by drugs and a cruel demanding father, Nathan had been the perfect pawn to Jefferson, one he could manipulate to get almost anything he wanted, even a scapegoat. Max was determined that it wouldn’t happen this time. Going back to her messages, Max went through her recent messages, and send a new text to Jeffry, the Prescott’s lawyer. 

_‘Jeffry, I just heard that Nathan got himself into trouble over something else. I recommend you give him a psychiatric examination, and ask Principal Wells for any information he might have on the matter.’_

A minute later and Max was given a reply.

_‘Thanks for the tip, I will take any help on this I can get. Not that I don’t appreciate it, but why are you trying to help Nathan? Not many people are so forgiving after such an incident.'_

Max read his reply, smiling slightly as she thought back to everything she knew about Nathan. Though she hadn’t believed it at the time, Victoria had been right about him. Nathan wasn’t a bad person by nature, he had just had a lot of bad stuff happen to him.

_‘Nathan isn’t a bad person, he has just had a lot of badness happen to him. I don’t like to see bad things happen to undeserving people.’ ___

___‘You Max are an angel. If there were more people like you in the world then I would be out of work. I will make sure your reward reaches you soon.’_ _ _

__Max sighed, putting away her phone. She wasn’t sure if it would be enough to help Nathan, and while she would never be Nathan’s friend in this time, she felt that Jefferson had hurt enough people. Max didn’t want anyone else to suffer because of him, even Nathan. They had all had more than enough suffering as it was. Max hung around for a while longer, turning on the TV to check for any more news. Surprisingly, the Prescott’s had already announced their intentions to pay for Rachel’s funeral, though there was some outcry that they had caused the damage in the first place.  
Max heard a noise coming from upstairs, and quickly turned off the TV. A moment later and Chloe came down. _ _

__“Max, didn’t expect you to be here still. Don’t you have classes or something?” Chloe asked quietly._ _

__“Not today, they got cancelled. I’m all yours” Max explained. Chloe nodded, and sat down next to her. For a moment the two of them sat their silently, then after a while Chloe broke the silence._ _

__“You would have liked her, she was really cool, but also hip and artistic.”_ _

__“I bet the three of us would have been best of friends.” Max agreed, quietly, more just filling in blank spaces of conversation and allowing Chloe to vent._ _

__“After William died and you left, she was the only one there to help, I don’t think I could have gotten through this without her.” Chloe continued. Max was silent, and Chloe continued._ _

__“We were meant to get out of this shit hole together, get a car and escape to LA. Part of me was always hoping she had just left like you, and was partying it up in LA, happy and carefree.” Chloe went on._ _

__“She didn’t leave without you. She was never given a choice.” Max said sadly. Chloe looked at Max for a moment, then nodded._ _

__“I guess not. These last few months before you arrived have been so hard. Did you know, I was the one who put up all those missing person posters once the police gave up, just in case she was still alive. Now I know she is gone, I don’t know what to think.” Chloe said. Max put an arm around her, understanding how she felt._ _

__“You feel robbed of the future you should have had with them?” Max asked, understanding the feeling all too well._ _

__“Yeah, that about sums it up. But at least I got to spend so much time with her, you never had a chance to meet her.” Chloe said._ _

__“You never know, as soon as we are back together your step-dad of all people is the one to find her and get justice too. Maybe her spirit guided us together and gave me a chance to save you.” Max whispered, thinking back to that vivid dream she had after she had been shot, of talking to Rachel and the choice she had made. After everything that had happened, Max could believe anything. It could even be Rachel that had given Max the power to do all of this, maybe it had been all of them; Rachel, herself and Chloe, linked by time and love to change events for the better._ _

__“I’d like to think so. Anything that can happen will happen right?” Chloe said._ _

__“Chaos theory. What do you think Rachel would want you to do now?” Max asked._ _

__“She would want us to move on, to enjoy life and make something out of it.” Chloe said, sighing._ _

__“Then that’s what we’ll do, together.” Max said determinedly. Chloe finally looked up at Max, saying_ _

__“Damn Max, you might have changed more than me. What happened to you?” Chloe asked. Max shrugged, trying to play it off._ _

__“When Nathan shot me, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I remembered everything that was important to me. My friends, my family, you. I saw just how frail and precious the time we have left is, and I don’t want to waste any more of it being too afraid to move.” Max said. Chloe looked at her for a moment, then nodded._ _

__“Wow, must have been quite a trip. Maybe Rachel did bring us back together, for a moment you sounded just like her.” Chloe said. Max smiled before she spoke._ _

__“Rachel probably sounded a lot cooler and more confident that me. I’m just a kid messing around with everything, and usually making it worse for doing so.” Max said._ _

__“You just have to find your place, your style. You might be closer to it than you think, and when you do you’ll be able to make the world bow.” Chloe said seriously._ _

__“I don’t want to make the world bow. I can be happy with what I have right now, I can be happy that I found you.” Max said._ _

__“Chloe and Max, linked by time and the spirits.” Chloe said lightly. Max smiled. Chloe had no idea just how right she was._ _

__“OK, that’s enough sappy emotion stuff for now. I need to get out of here.” Chloe decided._ _

__“We could go down to the beach?” Max suggested, trying to avoid going to American Rust considering._ _

__“Sounds like a plan Max Power. Let’s get going.” Chloe decided, and the two of them got their bags and headed out. The journey down to the beach was uneventful. Both sat in the semi in silence, but it was not the awkward silence of people still getting to know each other, it was a comfortable silence, when two people didn’t need to speak all the time. It was crazy to think that for Chloe, Max had only been in her life for a few days. For Max it was longer, though she wasn’t sure by how long. No matter how long it was, Max was content with it, it had given her a chance to change everything, and Max was determined to make use of every minute of the time._ _

__

__The two of them arrived at the beach in quick time. It was not the best day to be visiting the beach; the sky was dark with clouds and the wind was blowing strongly, sending sand flying up into the air. But then, at least the sand was not littered with beached whales, somehow another warning that Max was getting closer to destroying reality. Chloe was also standing alongside her, and with one look over at her, Max thanked whatever had given her the power that she had been allowed to save both Chloe and Arcadia._ _

__“Not many people out today, maybe the weather is keeping them in.” Max said, looking around at the almost empty beach._ _

__“At least that’s a plus. Oh crap.” Chloe muttered as she saw a camper van that was instantly recognizable by the amount of dirt covering it. It was Frank Bower’s van._ _

__“We’d better go, I don’t wanna deal with this right now.” Chloe said, turning to leave. Before she could however, Frank came out of his van, looking straight at them. Behind him trotted out his dog Pompidou, Frank’s ever faithful companion._ _

__“Chloe Price, I hope you came here to give me that money you owe.” Frank said menacingly, briefly glancing over at Max before looking back to Chloe._ _

__“You’ll get your money all right, just give me a little while.” Chloe said, taking a step backwards. Frank started walking over to them._ _

__“Funny, you said that a week ago too. You’d better give me my money or…” Frank was suddenly interrupted by Max._ _

__“Frank Bowers right?” Max asked. Frank looked over to Max now, and the old Max would have wilted away from his stare, but not this Max._ _

__“Chloe been telling stories about me? Who the hell are you?” Frank demanded._ _

__“The name’s Max. You were the one who rescued all those dogs from the fighting pits right? That was a very good thing you did.” Max said bravely. Frank blinked in surprise for a moment. Max knew from experience that the last thing Frank expected her to say was that._ _

__“Yeah, well anyone would have done that, but it doesn’t change the fact that your little blue-haired punk here owes me a lot of money.” Frank said, looking back at Chloe._ _

__“I told you I will get it for you soon ok?” Chloe said defensively, but Frank waved her off._ _

__“And I don’t believe you. So what should I do to make sure I get my money?” Frank asked in his best menacing voice._ _

__“Frank, we came here for a different reason.” Max suddenly said. Frank looked over at Max in confusion._ _

__“Oh, and what would that be?” Frank asked aggressively._ _

__“I don’t expect that you had heard yet, but the police found Rachel Amber. I’m so sorry, she’s dead. They got the ones responsible.” Max said quietly. Frank shut up in a single moment. His threatening demeanor changed completely._ _

__“I… how did you know?” Frank began to ask, his angry tone completely gone. Next to him, Chloe looked even more confused, as she didn’t know that Frank knew Rachel at all. Before Max could answer, Frank looked away._ _

__“Are the bastards that did it gonna get it?” Frank asked._ _

__“Yes, there’s enough evidence to put them away forever.” Max said, and this time Frank believed her._ _

__“Thanks for letting me know, now piss off.” Frank said, walking back to his campervan. Max and Chloe followed his request and walked in the opposite direction. As soon as they were out of earshot, Chloe turned to Max._ _

__“Max what the hell was that? How do you even know him?” Chloe asked. Max quickly thought of another excuse._ _

__“I was following the story of Rachel from all the posters you put up around Blackwell. I learned from some of the students that Rachel had loads of friends, including Frank Bowers.” Max explained._ _

__“You’re a weirdo all right Max. Never thought to mention you had been looking up on Rachel before. You sure you didn’t tip off David too?” Chloe asked._ _

__“N…No, I only never mentioned it because I didn’t learn anything else besides that. Whoever was the tipper and David deserve all the credit for that.” Max denied. Chloe looked away at the mention of her step-douche._ _

__“Hard to believe that David’s paranoia was actually useful for a change. Guess I actually owe him one now.” Chloe said. This time, Max felt like she had a chance to help David. Before she had almost ruined his relationship with his family. This time would be different._ _

__“Chloe, I have seen David work around Blackwell. He is a total douche and acts mean all the time, but he clearly cares about keeping everyone safe. He clearly cares about you too, otherwise why would he have spent too much time tracking down Rachel?” Max said._ _

__“What, you joined a step-douche club too?” Chloe said, slightly angry._ _

__“No, I just noticed that he isn’t all douche.” Max answered. Chloe finally sighed.  
“Maybe I am harsh on him sometimes, god this day is weird. You have that nightmare, Rachel is finally found, you somehow know Frank Bowers and suddenly David isn’t a complete asshole. What’s next?” Chloe asked. _ _

__“Life is strange.” Max said simply._ _

__“You got that right. Now let’s chill for a while. I need to get away from all this. You don’t mind if I medicate do you?” Chloe asked, and when Max nodded she took out a joint and a lighter, lying down on the sand as she relaxed. As Chloe relaxed in the sand, Max wondered about the beach, and when Chloe wasn’t looking she took out her camera and took a picture of the sea. Max lost herself in time for a moment, walking alongside the lapping waves as she thought about everything that had happened, and everything she wanted to happen. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice when Chloe snuck up on her._ _

__

__“Watch out hippie! Chloe yelled, running into the waves and splashing Max. Max gave a yell as she was splashed with cold salty water._ _

__“You jerk, I’m still wearing my shoes.” Max said, pointing out how she couldn’t follow Chloe into the waves._ _

__“Then take them off genius. Let your wild side out already!” Chloe demanded, continuing to splash Max. Max backed away out of her reach, then quickly took her bag, shoes and socks off, rolling up the leg of her jeans to avoid getting them soaked. With a girlish yell Max ran into the waves, and the two of them started splashing each other, soaking each other within a matter of minutes just like when they were kids. As Max went slightly deeper into the water, ready to splash Chloe with a giant wave. Chloe quickly followed her, grabbing onto Max’s arms to stop her from splashing any more. For a brief moment both of them stood there, holding onto each other’s arms and standing very close together.  
And for that briefest moment, Max wanted to kiss Chloe again. Then the moment broke, and they each backed away._ _

__

__“That got strange for a second.” Chloe said, suddenly feeling awkward._ _

__“Life is strange alright.” Max said again, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach._ _

__“Come on, let’s get back to land. I don’t want to get stung by a jellyfish or something.” Max said, looking out at the water in worry for a moment. The two of them walked back to their shoes, with Chloe briefly pretending to zap Max from behind, making her run ahead. Once they managed to dry off and put their shoes back on, they continued walking aimlessly, and Max barely noticed when they left the beach and started up a woodland path. It was only when Max recognized where they were walking that she felt uneasy. It was the same path that had started all of this, in her vision of the tornado wiping out Arcadia Bay. With the wind blowing strongly it was a bit too familiar for comfort, and Max shivered, looking around with pain in her eyes. She had come far too close to losing everything that mattered to her. Just as she had the thought, it started raining as well, just like before._ _

__“You cold? Guess it wasn’t a great idea to have a water fight on a day like today?” Chloe noticed Max shivering._ _

__“If I catch a cold from this then it’s your fault.” Max said, smiling slightly, to which Chloe rolled her eyes._ _

__“Hey, I’ve already managed to be a bad influence on you. One point to Chloe.” Chloe said sarcastically, and the two of them continued walking up the path. The wind was really picking up when they reached the lighthouse, and it had started to rain._ _

__“Remember when we came up here as children, and built that pirate fort?” Chloe asked._ _

__“How could I forget? That’s one of my favorite childhood memories. It was going to be our secret hideout.” Max said, looking out across the Bay. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning out over the Bay, the sound of the thunder instantly reaching them with a terrific crack._ _

__“Must be a summer storm. Maybe we should head back home… Max?” Chloe was saying, then turned as she saw her friend. Max was white as a sheet, as if she had just seen a ghost, and that was partly true. With the strong winds, rain and the sound of thunder, Max was instantly brought back to that time like a real life flash back. What if she had been wrong? What if she hadn’t changed fate?? What if she really had to let Chloe die???_ _

__“Woah, you are way too stressed out. Afraid of storms or something?” Chloe asked, but Max couldn’t hear her. Her world had zoomed in around her, her mind rebelling against her thoughts._ _

__“No…” Max whispered, falling to her knees. It felt like nature itself was warning her, demanding that she go back and allow Chloe to die, as if the universe itself demanded her death. Above them another bolt of lightning struck, followed quickly by the crack of thunder. Chloe knelt down next to Max. She was saying something, but for some reason Max couldn’t hear her, all she could feel was the storm around her, demanding her to let Chloe die._ _

__“No… I can’t, I won’t do it.” Max said to herself, refusing to go back in time and leave Chloe. There was more lightning through the air as the storm continued unabated. Max fell back onto her knees as the wind howled around her. There were tears coming down her face though they were masked by the rain, she had no idea when it had started. Suddenly Max looked up at the sky and started shouting._ _

__**“No! I won’t do it! Leave me alone!”** Max shouted up at the sky as she began to feel lightheaded. Then her vision started to darken, she continued in a whisper, repeating the same words over and over again._ _

__“No, no no no no no….” Max whispered, refusing to go through with it all, until her vision went dark and Max fainted. She had no idea how much time had passed, but when Max opened her eyes again she was inside._ _

__

__“Max? Can you hear me? Please say you can hear me now?” Chloe asked. Max looked over at Chloe, not sure what had happened had been another nightmare or if it had been real._ _

__“What happened?” Max asked._ _

__“Well, one moment you were fine, then as soon as the lightning started you totally freaked out. You were screaming at the sky, then you fainted.” Chloe explained._ _

__“And the tornado?” Max asked, terror still in her eyes as she realized it was real._ _

__“Tornado? There wasn’t one, it’s just a summer storm, nothing unusual about it.” Chloe said, now very worried over Max’s well being._ _

__“There wasn’t one? Then Arcadia Bay is still there?” Max asked, suddenly being given a glimmer of hope._ _

__“Yeah its fine. What on earth are you talking about Max? Are you taking drugs from Frank or something?” Chloe asked. Max shook her head, filled with the greatest feeling of relief she had ever felt. Tears were once again pouring down her face, this time tears of relief. She felt so exhausted, like she had just finished running the longest marathon in the world. Chloe put her arms around her, and this time Max latched onto Chloe, never wanting to let go of her again. She didn’t have to make that terrible choice again. Both Chloe and the Bay were still here. Max wasn’t sure how long she continued crying, maybe it was a release of emotion, one pent up from all the pain and worry she had felt since she had started all of this._ _

__Eventually Max stopped crying, and just lay there in Chloe’s arms. Finally Chloe had to ask her.  
“Max, please you’re scaring me now. Please tell me what happened? None of this makes any sense anymore.” Chloe said. _ _

__“That’s because it doesn’t make any sense. It’s all so unbelievable that nobody will ever believe me.” Max finally gave in, she was too exhausted to tell any more lies to the girl she loved._ _

__“Max, I’ll believe you. Tell me.” Chloe said. Max looked up at her for a moment, and saw that Chloe looked completely sincere. Finally, Max decided to tell her. Even if Chloe thought she was insane, Max realized that she couldn’t keep lying to her. Max looked over to her bag, and without having to ask, Chloe reached over and passed it to her. Max opened the bag, and took out her notebook of photographs, wordlessly passing them over to Chloe. Chloe looked at the one at the front of the small notebook._ _

__“That butterfly, you took that in the restroom before I came in?” Chloe asked._ _

__“That’s when it all started. Look through the other ones.” Max explained, part terrified at what Chloe would say, but also too exhausted to care about it anymore. Chloe turned the page, then blinked several times in confusion, seeing captured memories of a time that never happened._ _

__“What… how?” Chloe asked, looking at a picture of herself, one she had no memory of whatsoever, with a date below it that was set in the future. Chloe looked over at Max._ _

__“This is some kind of trick right?” Chloe had to ask. Max slowly shook her head._ _

__“No, you can’t edit photos from an instant camera. It’s real.” Max said solemnly._ _

__“Then we’re high right? Frank got us high on that beach? None of this after the butterfly picture happened.” Chloe said, looking through them in disbelief._ _

__“He didn’t do anything. They are all real.” Max said. Chloe looked through a few more of the photos, then finally put them down at looked at Max, a bit of panic in her eyes now._ _

__“Max… what the hell?” Chloe asked. Max sighed, then finally explained._ _

__

__“When I first saw you, Nathan already had his gun out. I was too afraid to move and stayed hidden. Then the gun went off, Nathan shot you.” Max explained. Chloe stared blankly at her for a moment._ _

__“That’s didn’t happen. You stepped out before that, Nathan turned and shot you.” Chloe stated._ _

__“No, that only happened the last time. When I saw you get shot, I reached out, and I turned back time.” Max said. Chloe looked even more confused than ever before._ _

__“Chaos Theory Chloe. I know you believe in it because you were the one to explain it to me. Anything that can happen will happen at some point somewhere in the galaxy.” Max said. This time Chloe was silent, and Max went on._ _

__“That’s how I knew all about Frank Bowers, that’s how I know you owe him 3000 dollars, and how I know that you stole one of David’s stupid guns. That’s how I knew about Rachel Amber, how I knew to give a message to David, telling him exactly how to catch those responsible. We had already found her, in a time that now never happened.” Max explained. Chloe was silent for a bit longer. As crazy as it sounded, it made sense. Finally Chloe looked back up at Max._ _

__“Start from the beginning.” Chloe said. Max took a deep breath._ _

__“It all started on the day with you and Nathan. For you it was just the other day, for me it was well over a week ago. I had a dream, no more of a vision. I was here at the lighthouse, and I saw a massive hurricane and a tornado completely wipe out Arcadia Bay.” Max explained, and then continued on, talking about meeting Chloe in the bathroom, braking the fire alarm, meeting Frank, saving Kate’s life, how she tried and failed to save William’s life, then how she and Chloe found Rachel Amber, to Jefferson torturing Max in the Dark Room before David saved her, to Max almost completely destroying reality, to being forced to choose between Arcadia Bay and Chloe, then back to that original restroom where it all started, and Max making a different choice. Max went through each picture in the album, explained each and every one. Throughout it all, Chloe was silent, listening intently to every word that Max said. By the time she had finished, the storm was over, the lightning and the wind had stopped._ _

__“So when you heard the lighting, you thought that you hadn’t stopped the storm at all?” Chloe asked. Max nodded._ _

__“Yeah. Back up here where it all started… and all ended, the wind and the lighting. It all just made this feel like some giant and terrible game, making me believe that I had saved everyone, saved you, then taking it all back again. Guess I freaked out a bit.” Max said, looking away. Chloe was silent for a while, and Max made no move to break the silence, waiting for Chloe to say something._ _

__“I believe you.” Chloe finally said. Max looked over at her, their eyes meeting and Chloe continued._ _

__“No way would you make up a story this crazy for no reason. And somehow it explains everything; you knowing things you shouldn’t, your nightmare about Jefferson, David’s unknown tip leading him right to the Dark Room just after you rescue me, and all of these pictures.” Chloe said. Max nodded, almost not believing that Chloe had believed her. This was really why Chloe was awesome. The rocker style and badass attitude were cool, but there were other things that Max loved, that she would forgive Max despite all the pain she had caused, that she would in both times believe her right away just on her word._ _

__“It also explains why you wouldn’t tell Joyce and me about Jefferson and your nightmare. If it didn’t happen in this time then no way you can prove it.” Chloe said, thinking back to the morning. Then before Max could say anything else she continued._ _

__“Wait, it was us that found Rachel, you and me?” Chloe asked. Max nodded, explaining all the different escapades they had gone on together, interrogating David, Frank and Nathan, as well as braking into the school and the swimming pool just for fun._ _

__“Dude that sounds awesome! Max and Chloe, going on adventures and braking into the school. We must have been total badasses! With your power we could have made the world bow.” Chloe exclaimed, thinking about everything they could have done._ _

__“Not anymore Chloe. I don’t even know if I can still use my power, and even if I could I wouldn’t. I won’t risk losing all of this again, losing you all over again.” Max said, the determination and fire in her voice noticeable._ _

__“Wow Max, no wonder you grew a spine when I first met you. You sound like you totally fell in love with me.” Chloe said, laughing slightly. Max laughed as well, partially to hide the fact that she was blushing._ _

__“Well, you are Priceless.” Max finally admitted. Chloe gave a sidelong glance as Max._ _

__“Very funny Maximus. Seriously though I can barely believe that you almost destroyed reality just to save me. I mean, I suck. I’m rude to everyone, I do loads of drugs, I got kicked out of school…” Chloe started off, but Max interrupted her._ _

__“And your still awesome, aside from the gun, that thing caused us nothing but trouble.” Max said. Chloe laughed again._ _

__“Wow Max, you really love me don’t you?” Chloe teased. Max looked away for a moment, too scared to admit it yet completely unable to deny it._ _

__“Aww you’re too cute!” Chloe said, laughing. At seeing Max’s now annoyed face, Chloe calmed down a bit._ _

__“OK, calm down super Max. I guess you’re kinda cool too.” Chloe admitted._ _

__“Kinda cool! I almost destroy reality as we know it, and all I get is a kinda cool!?” Max exclaimed, still embarrassed. Chloe laughed again, enjoying mocking Max. Then another look crossed her face. Suddenly Chloe leaned forwards, kissing Max right on the lips. Max paused in shock for a moment, and Chloe leaned away._ _

__“Did I do that in your other reality?” Chloe asked nervously. Max paused, blushing as a mischievous smile appeared on her face._ _

__“Really we did?” Chloe asked in surprise, to which Max nodded, blushing even more._ _

__“Twice.” Max said. Chloe shook her head._ _

__“Damn Max, I can’t compete with that other me, I’ve finally found a worthwhile opponent.” Chloe said. Max suddenly looked back up at Chloe._ _

__“You dork. How about I make it even for you then.” Max said, leaning in and kissing Chloe back. Chloe lent in as well, the kiss being more serious than before, making Max’s heart flutter even more than before. Eventually they parted, with Max almost gasping for air._ _

__“Wowser…” Max said after a moment, giggling slightly._ _

__“And you called me a dork?” Chloe asked, then looked more serious. “Hey, thanks for telling me the truth.” Chloe said._ _

__“Thanks for believing me.” Max answered, then looked at her watch. It was already getting late._ _

__“We should really head back.” Chloe said. Max agreed, and the two of them headed outside, back to Chloe’s truck, holding hands the entire way back.  
 _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this next chapter! You didn't really think that Max would be able to keep her rewind a secret from Chloe? Even with her powers Max was a terrible liar at the best of times. 
> 
> As for Max's feeling's regarding Nathan and Jefferson, once I realized how messed up Nathan was I didn't blame him for what happened, Nathan shooting Chloe always seemed to be more of an accident than anything. Jefferson on the other hand did everything very deliberately, so I couldn't forgive him for it, even if he did have his own issues.


	4. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has faced all sorts of trails and punishments, but now she has to go once more into the breach. Classes have started again at Blackwell. OK maybe it's not a storm with a thirst for Chloe blood trying to destroy the Bay, but it does give Max a chance to heal some other wounds.

Two days later and life started to return to normal at Blackwell Academy. While there was still no replacement teacher for Mark Jefferson, the other teachers had returned to start class again, meaning Max was finally getting back to school. Over the two days, she had finally managed to lose the crutch and was walking about on her own, though she was still on pain medication for most of the day. She also continued having nightmares. Max realized she could probably start taking medication for that too, but she didn’t want to end up on loads of different things without actually solving any of her own problems, that was the kind of stuff that got Nathan into the situation he was in now. She would have liked to go to a therapist, but how could she explain all her problems to someone without sounding insane? Max was hoping things would get better after today though. It was now the day where the hurricane was meant to strike Arcadia Bay, and aside from the storm at the lighthouse scaring the sense out of Max, there had been no unusual weather or dying animals bringing warnings of the apocalypse. Once this was over and she could say for sure she had dodged the storm, then maybe the nightmares and flashbacks would end. 

 

Max sat down into her science class, with Warren on one side of her and Kate on another. It felt strange to be back in classes again, something so normal after all the insanity ever since this all started. Behind her, Max would hear Victoria whispering to Courtney and Taylor, probably more of their clique stuff. Some things Max didn’t wish would return to normal. Victoria’s harassment of Kate and herself being one of them. But Max already had a few ideas on that subject; if she could manage to get any of the three on their own, then Max was confident she could actually get them talking, but Victoria was almost inseparable from her minions. She needed some way to separate them. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Mrs. Grant, the science teacher.

“I hope my classes are not too boring for you all. I know that things have been a bit chaotic here ever since Mr. Jefferson… was detained. But life doesn’t stop for that, and neither will your exams at the end of the semester, don’t you agree Ms. Chase?” Grant finished her lecturing, looking pointedly at Victoria. 

“Yes, of course Mrs. Grant.” Victoria said in a subdued voice. Max frowned as she heard Victoria speak. There was pain there, hidden away but still there. Max suddenly remembered that Victoria had been friends with Nathan, and had really looked up to Jefferson too. She must be taking this very hard. 

“Good, in which case none of you will mind completing page 53 of your text books then?” Mrs. Grant asked, and a slew of moans erupted from the class.

“Don’t make that noise, this is important stuff we are studying, something you may need to know as you get older.” Grant said. Max sighed under her breath. It was possible (but unlikely) that learning about human bone structure could be useful, but without being able to focus on this properly she was never going to remember it for very long. Before Max would start the work however, the schools PA system chimed on as Principal Well’s spoke to them.

“Sorry to interrupt your classes, but the police have… ‘requested’ to question all of Mr. Jefferson’s students regarding his recent arrest. I will be asking each student out one at a time, and would ask each of you to come to my office and to give any assistance you can to our local law enforcement.” Principal Well’s voice came out of the speakers. Max wasn’t really surprised, they were likely gathering any school involvement with Jefferson, as well as looking for any more evidence against him. A few minutes later and Wells called up the first person, Hayden. Max looked back to her work, aimlessly filling out questions, not really paying any attention to what she was doing. About halfway through the class, and Wells asked for her. Sighing again, Max awkwardly climbed out of her chair, avoiding brushing against her wound, and walked back out to the Principals Office. Wells was standing at the front of it, talking with David, who nodded to Max as she passed. Max smiled at him, remembering to be nice to David even if she didn’t particularly like him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max entered Wells office, noticing the police officer sitting in the Principal’s fancy leather chair.  
“Maxine Caulfield, as you know we have a few questions regarding your art teacher, Mark Jefferson.” The officer said, indicating for Max to sit in the chair opposite him. Max took the chair, and immediately noticed that this officer thought she was just a kid, looking down his nose at her as though she was another number. It was probably the PTSD, but Max suddenly felt annoyed. After everything she had gone through she didn’t deserve this. She wasn’t a kid anymore. 

“And I suppose you’ll want to question me on Nathan Prescott too?” Max asked. The policeman didn’t look up at her as he answered.

“We will get to that later. Maxine, what did you know about Mark Jefferson?” The officer asked. Max realized that she couldn’t just go out and say she detested him, that he had tried to take everything away from her. She needed another approach.

“He was well regarded by almost everyone before this happened. But then he was very good at hiding his true feelings.” Max said. The officer looked up at her answer. 

“Oh, and why do you think that?” The officer asked. 

“My friend Kate sent the police a report saying that Nathan Prescott and someone else had drugged her and taken her away somewhere, which I imagine you all ignored at the time. Afterwards she went to Jefferson for advice, and I heard he brushed it off as if nothing was happening. Either he is a good actor or he didn’t care in the least about what had happened to her.” Max explained. 

“That makes sense I suppose. Was there ever any indication that Mr. Jefferson was unstable?” The officer asked. 

“Only in hindsight.” Max answered simply, making the officer look back up at her.

“And what were those?” He asked. 

“Look around the campus, all of those posters are of his art, and have that similar dark style to them. He was obsessed with his work and desperate for recognition, but everyone here thought he was just passionate about it, not a monster.” Max answered. The officer finally listened to what she said, standing up and looking out of the window, noticing the artwork displayed outside. 

“Yes… well thank you for your help Miss, now if you don’t mind answering a few questions about Nathan Prescott? Was he a friend of yours?” The officer asked. Max looked at the officer quizzically for a moment. Now it was definitely the PTSD, but did this police officer not know what had happened?

“You don’t read the news much do you officer? Or police reports for that matter?” Max asked.

“You trying to suggest something miss?” The officer asked in an arrogant tone.

“I was hoping for something a bit less subtle than that, but sure. Nathan was already under house arrest for shooting me on Monday.” Max explained. For once, the officer looked taken aback, realizing how stupid he suddenly seemed. 

“Oh… I’m sorry Miss Cauldfield, I know this must be hard for you.” The officer said, finally looking over to her. Max held his gaze as she answered.

“Not as hard as it was to hear about Kate Marsh being drugged and bullied. But this is about Nathan Prescott. Do you really want to know what I think? You probably won’t like the answer.” Max said. Misunderstanding her, the officer responded.

“Don’t worry Miss Cauldfield, I know you must have very negative feelings about Nathan, I just want you to try and look at this from a 3rd party perspective.” The officer said. Max suddenly smiled, ready to go all out.

“OK then, I think Nathan Prescott is as much of a victim of this as Kate is.” Max said simply. The officer blinked in surprise, leaning in to look at Max.

“What exactly do you mean?” He asked in confusion.

“By now you must have seen the psych reports from various therapists as well as from this school. Nathan was hurting badly, and without anyone here to support him was the perfect target for Jefferson to exploit, taking advantage of his family’s money and his influence over the Vortex club to catch new victims, then on letting Nathan take the blame should things go badly for them. Nathan needs help, not punishment.” Max explained. The officer leaned back, thinking it over.

“Well, that is not what I expected you to say. I will add your testimony to the list of evidence, thank you for your assistance Maxine.” The officer said. Max stood up, looking the officer in the eye again.

“The name is Max, and no problem.” She said, before turning to leave. As she walked away, she spoke over her shoulder.

“Oh, and if all your interrogations get tiring, Wells hides his booze in the lower cupboard to your right behind you.” Max said, and as she left she could hear the cupboard being opened and a quiet chuckle coming from the officer. Max left the room, and saw Victoria coming in her direction, likely going to be questioned too. Suddenly, Max felt sorry for her, and gave her a kind smile as she passed. 

 

In front of her, Wells and David were still talking. Max thought about getting back to class, then had a better idea. She walked up to the Principal and security guard.  
“Excuse me?” Max said as she walked up.

“Miss Caulfield, shouldn’t you be getting back to class?” Wells asked. 

“I will soon, I just need to speak to Mr. Madsen if you have a moment.” Max said. Both of them looked confused for a second, but then David nodded, and Wells excused himself. David turned back to Max.

“Maxine, is everything all right?” David asked. Max paused for a second. David wasn’t hostile anymore, not like last time. It was probably because everyone knew she had saved Chloe’s life, not to mention she wasn’t found with pot in Chloe’s room this time.

“Yes I’m fine thanks. This is about…” Max started, but before she could David interrupted her.

“Before you speak, I wanted to thank you for… saving Chloe’s life. I know I seem harsh, but I want what is best for her, what’s best for all of you.” David explained. 

“It’s OK, I believe you. And actually this about you. You, Joyce and Chloe.” Max said.

“Well? What is it?” David asked, his tone becoming more defensive. Max paused for a second, thinking about exactly what to say.

“David, before I start, I want you to know that I feel the same way, I want the best for everyone, and I love Chloe and Joyce like they are my own family.” Max said. David nodded, agreeing with her. 

“That’s why I am trying to do this for your own benefit. I want you to take down the surveillance cameras you have around your house.” Max finally said.

“Now wait just a minute.” David said, his tone rapidly rising. Max felt a brief tremor of fear come through her, she always hated confrontation, which seemed ironic considering confrontation seemed to be all she was doing recently.

“Before you ask, I was looking for some tools to repair my camera with, you didn’t hide your TV monitor very well.” Max said.

“OK, ignoring the fact that you just admitted to going through my property and putting your nose into my business, you’re asking me to put away the camera’s after everything that has happened? It’s for their safety.” David insisted. 

“It’s not just your business David, I care about your family, which makes it my business too. But Chloe wasn’t almost shot at home, nor was what happened to me, Kate Marsh or Rachel Amber. If Chloe or Joyce find out about those camera’s they will feel as if you don’t trust them. They will be feel betrayed and have their privacy breached. There is no future in which those cameras do any good.” Max explained, her meaning very literal this time. David paused at her words this time, realizing that Max hadn't told Joyce or Chloe about the cameras. 

“You mean… you mean you didn’t tell them?” David asked. Max smiled, technically she had in the previous time, but with her new experience, things had changed. 

“David, I will always take Chloe’s side in a conflict, that’s what a comrade does. But I’m not trying to tear your family apart. I just want you all to be happy.” Max said. David looked over at her as she mentioned the word comrade, bringing him back to his army days. A comrade was someone you relied on in any situation, someone you could trust with anything, who would always have your back.

“David, how can they feel like a comrade if you spy on them? Because the only thing those cameras do is say that you don’t trust them.” Max asked. David finally sighed. Max had struck a nerve there.

“Your right. If I can’t trust them in our own home then I shouldn’t be there at all. I’ll put away the cameras. Thanks Maxine. It’s good to know that you will always have Chloe’s back.” David said. 

“That’s my job. Thanks for listening. I know it’s not easy being lectured to by a student like me.” Max said. David actually laughed on that one.

“You have no idea, especially after my military service…” David started. 

“You just feel like you have gone through so much, people should be treating you better, you have suffered enough for one lifetime already.” Max finished off for him. David looked over at Max with newfound respect. He offered his hand out to Max, which she took.

“Thank you ….Max. Chloe is lucky to have a friend like you.” David said, and Max noticed that he had called her Max instead of Maxine this time.

“Thanks David. I have to go now, I guess I might see you later at Joyce’s house?” Max asked. David nodded.

“Joyce will be happy to see you. Thanks again.” David said. As David left, Max walked down hall, in silent amazement at how well that had gone. David really was a completely different person than her first impression, a bit like Chloe in that way really. While Max may never call him a friend, at least she could look at him with mutual respect now. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leaving David behind to go back to class, Max noticed Victoria leaving the Principals office. It only took her a single glance to realize that Victoria was almost in tears. Well, that meant one down, one more to go. Max had wanted to speak with Victoria while she was alone, and now seemed like the best chance she would get to win her over too. After everything Max had been though, she realized full well the pointlessness of gaining enemies. 

“Hey Victoria, you OK?” Max asked, intercepting Victoria before she could leave. Victoria looked over at her, the pain in her expression replaced by anger. 

“What do you want Max? To rub it into my face that my friends were monsters? That I’m a monster?” Victoria demanded. Max took a step back, surprised at Victoria’s open hostility. 

“Of course not, it just looked like that jerk of a police officer was giving you a hard time, it looked like you could use a friend.” Max tried to explain. 

“Oh yeah? We’re not friends Max. We never were and we never will be. Why would you possibly want to help me?” Victoria continued to cry out. Max answered back honestly and instantly.

“Because I still care about you!” Max almost shouted back. Both of them were silent for a moment, surprised at the outburst, then Max continued. 

“Just because some of your friends are in trouble doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person Victoria, and despite what you think, I actually wish that we were friends.” Max explained. For a moment it seemed like Victoria would relent, and Max could see the pain and fear behind her eyes, then her face hardened again.

“Enough of the hipster bullshit Max. I might not be perfect, but at least I don’t try to hide behind it all. Go fuck your selfie.” Victoria said angrily, turning away and walking out the door. 

Max stood there for a moment, and for once she actually wished that she had her rewind back. Then her determination came flooding back to her. After everything she had done, she was not giving up just because one person didn’t like her. Max ran after Victoria, leaving the building and catching up with her outside.

 **“Victoria Chase you stop right now!”** Max shouted after her, the determination in her voice coming through like a hurricane as she stormed outside to follow. Victoria turned around immediately, but didn’t lash out, the tone of Max’s voice showing that she was serious this time. Max caught up to her and continued, this time quietly, the honesty plain to hear in her voice.  
“Why do we always have to fight? I’m tired of all this pretending to be tough against each other. Can we just talk, being honest with each other for once? Despite all our arguments, we aren’t that different.” Max said. Victoria paused again, but this time instead of lashing out she sighed. It was a sigh that Max recognized all too well, a sigh that said she was tired of fighting, or putting up a wall around the world. 

 

“OK Max. I’ll be honest with you if you are honest to me.” Victoria said, calmer now as she sat down next to the fountain. Max nodded, and sat down next to her.

“Thank you Victoria. That’s all I wanted.” Max said. 

“So, what did you want to say?” Victoria asked, unwilling to begin. Max took a deep breath, unsure of what to start with. 

“OK… I think the first thing I wanted to say was that I’m sorry.” Max said seriously. Victoria rose an eyebrow quizzically at that.

“Max, aside from the whole innocent hipster routine, what do you have to be sorry to be about? One of my friends shot you, and I bully you and Kate all the time and…” Victoria began to say, but Max interrupted her.

“Victoria, I don’t blame Nathan for being an idiot and shooting me. He needs help more than any of us. And while it does hurt when you try to bully us, I’ve been a total bitch to you too. Just now I made you storm out of here. I’m not perfect by any measure. I’m sorry for hurting you.” Max explained. Victoria was quiet this time, nodding along.

“Well, I guess I’m sorry too. I’m just a teenage girl trying to be popular and one day become a photographer.” Victoria said, her entire being a lot calmer now.

“You work is good Victoria, great even, you have an amazing eye for detail, Richard Avedon-esk. You don’t need to put others down to make your own work look brilliant. It’s already brilliant.” Max said. Victoria looked deeply at Max as she said it, making sure that Max wasn’t lying. 

“Thanks Max, he’s actually one of my heroes. Your work is pretty good too.” Victoria finally admitted. 

“Why are we enemies Victoria? We both like the same stuff, we both have the same dreams.” Max asked. Victoria thought about it for a moment, then answered.

“I never liked you from day one. The way Mark… Mr. Jefferson followed your every word, the way everyone seemed to like you with your shy hipster routine. It felt like you were taking everything I had away from me.” Victoria explained. 

“I never meant for that, and having Mark Jefferson take an interest in you can’t be a good thing.” Max said, shivering as she thought back to the Dark Room. 

“You really think he is guilty?” Victoria said, surprised. Max answered the question completely honestly.

“Honestly, I didn’t see it coming at all, but look around.” Max started speaking, pointing to the various Jefferson art works around campus, each that at first seemed deep, in retrospect was dark and creepy. “Remember what he said in that last class, about being able to put anyone of us in a room and expose us? And after everything that happened to Kate, there’s no way she would drink enough to get that wasted, and as dark as Nathan is, he wouldn’t do something like that if he wasn’t being manipulated. It all adds up.” Max finished explaining. Victoria looked over at one of the pictures again, as if seeing it in a new light. 

“It makes sense when you put it that way. I just thought that he was talented at exposing people’s inner selves, not that he would force it on them. But your right about Nathan, he wouldn’t do all this, he’s not a bad person, he’s just has gone through so much from his family.” Victoria said. 

“I believe you Victoria, that’s what I told the officer too.” Max said. Victoria sighed sadly.

“Thanks Max, I first thought that you were just faking it to get attention, but you really are a good person.” Victoria said. 

“Thanks Victoria, you’re a good person too.” Max said. Victoria snorted at that.

“Am I? I bully everyone around me in a desperate way of keeping a semblance of order in my life, and two people I considered friends have been arrested for murder. What part of that is good?” Victoria asked. 

“You were friends with Nathan when nobody else could see the trouble he was in. That’s a good thing, and I heard about you visiting Taylor’s mother with her in hospital. You are a good person Victoria, you just have to believe it.” Max insisted. Victoria finally smiled slightly. 

“That’s kind of you to say Max. I just feel like I always have to overcompensate to stay popular, though I don’t even know why.” Victoria said. 

“It’s probably because you’re afraid of losing those you care about. Everyone does stupid things for the ones they care for, especially me.” Max said, thinking about how she had almost destroyed reality.

“Max, I wouldn’t say taking a bullet for your friend is stupid. You know, you’re right, it does seem crazy that we are enemies when we have so much in common.” Victoria said, her tone changing to one that almost sounded friendly.

“Are? Are we going back to being enemies after this conversation?” Max asked, slightly worried again. Surprisingly, Victoria laughed at that.

“Max, you really are naïve sometimes you know? I would actually like to be friends, but I think all your others friends still hate me.” Victoria said. 

“Some of them don’t like you, it’s true. But they don’t decide my life. I’m not going to avoid you because of them.” Max said, and Victoria looked her in the eye to see her honesty.

“Fair enough Max. If you want to be friends then friends it is. And can you tell Kate that I’m sorry about everything I did with her video? I didn’t mean for it to go so far.” Victoria said. 

“I’d be happy to. See you around Victoria.” Max said, getting up to leave. 

“Au revoir.” Victoria said, staying where she was and thinking about everything Max had said. Max was finally smiling as she walked away. Even though she had totally bungled it at first, somehow it had ended well anyway. It was nice to see that maybe Max could deal without her rewind after all. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Max could go back to class, she knew that it was almost over now anyway, and decided to head back to her dorm. After everything that had happened she doubted she would get in too much trouble for skipping a single class. Her trip back to her dorm was uneventful, but there was a surprise waiting for her when she got back in. As Max entered her room, she noticed that there was now a small envelop on her floor. It must have been pushed under the door while she had been out. Max opened up the envelope, and gasped in surprise as she saw the small bundle of dollar bills in it, as well as a small note inside.

‘For your continued assistance to the Prescott family.’ The note said simply. Max instantly realized that it was her bribe money, and while she almost felt dirty for taking the bribe, she did need the money as well as the other things. If she had been planning on helping Nathan anyway, then she wasn’t really breaking any vow or something. Max quickly counted it all, it was enough for Chloe’s debts to Frank and more. Max lay back down on her bed, taking out her mobile to send a message to Chloe, then found that she had some messages from Chloe already.

_‘Sup hippie? want 2 crash at mine later?’_  
‘Hippie! answer me!’  
‘and no emoji either!’ 

Max smiled to herself as she wrote out a reply.

_‘Sounds like a plan. Would you mind if I asked you a favor?’_

Max sent the text, and she barely had enough time to water her plant before she got a response. 

_‘Whats the favor? and what do I get back?’_

_‘Will talk about it when I get there. You free to pick me up?’_

_‘Sure, c u in 20 mins.’_

_‘Can you make it 30? Want to have a shower first.’_  
_‘Takes u 30 mins 2 have a shower? Remember 2 use the disinfectant!’_

_‘Sure thing nurse Chloe. See you soon. :D’_

_'So u into the patient nurse thing Max???_

_'Err gtg! Bye!_

 

Max finally put down her phone, and made to get her stuff in order. She briefly checked through her emails, then grabbed her shower stuff and went took a quick shower. Once she had finished, Max quickly sprayed her wound with the disinfectant again, wincing painfully as she did so, then wrapped it back up in her own clumsy fashion. Once she was dressed again, Max headed back to her room and quickly blow dried her hair, leaving in it her loose messy fashion as she glanced at her watch. Despite trying to hurry, she only had five minutes left. Quickly gathering up a few more of her things and putting them in the bag, Max headed out the door, going to the car park. Of course, when she got there she found Chloe already waiting for her, parked across two disabled parking zones. 

“Sup Super Max, nice to see you’re not still drying your hair.” Chloe greeted Max as she arrived. But Max didn’t get in the car, instead looking at her and crossing her arms. 

“Chloe Price, why are you parked in the disabled parking?” Max said, the slightest bit of annoyance in her voice. Chloe gave her a quizzical look as she answered. 

“Because it’s the closest one? Come on, it’s not like anyone ever uses them, they are empty all the time.” Chloe said. 

“But what is someone needs to use them?” Max asked.

“Then they can either use the last empty one or they will just have to wait a second. Now are you getting in the car or are you going to make your poor invisible disabled people wait any longer?” Chloe said smugly. 

“There’s no winning with you is there?” Max asked, annoyed yet secretly amazed that Chloe had somehow won an argument over her parking skills. 

“Nope, now get in already. I have things to do.” Chloe said, and Max finally got in and they headed off. As they were driving, Chloe picked up a new conversation. 

“So what’s that favor you wanted?” Chloe asked. Max paused for a second before she answered.

“You remember in the Two Whales that I took the offer of the Prescotts?” Max asked.

“Yeah you did, mafia boss Max. What about it?” Chloe asked

“Well, among other things, I asked for a small amount of money. I want you to take it.” Max said. Chloe almost swerved off the road as she heard that, once she was back on the road, she turned to Max, but before she could say anything Max stopped her.

“Focus on the road please, I don’t want another car accident with you in it.” Max said.

“Another car accident? Did I crash the car in another time? Was it cool?” Chloe asked, now looking back to the road.

“No it wasn’t cool. It destroyed your life.” Max said in a very serious tone. 

“Christ Max, that’s kind of a buzz kill.” Chloe said, disappointed. 

“It’s not as much of a buzz kill for you as it was for me.” Max said in a subdued tone, trying not to remember another Chloe asking Max to end her life.

“Point taken. So what were you saying before that.” Chloe asked.

“I want to pay off your debt to Frank, all 3000 of it.” Max said. 

“Max, I don’t like having my friends bail me out, I can handle it.” Chloe said a bit defensively. 

“Technically I’m not bailing you out, the Prescott’s are, it’s just like what you were trying to do to Nathan in the first place, except this time there won’t be any guns involved.” Max said. 

“I do like the idea of taking the Prescott’s money. What else did you ask them for?” Chloe asked curiously. 

“I asked them to help the local fishermen they have been slowly killing off, and I asked them to pay for Rachel’s funeral and memorial costs.” Max said. Chloe blinked in surprise at the last one, not sure how to respond.

“That’s… thank you for that Max. I guess you already know this, but Rachel’s parents were not the best. But you didn’t ask for a Ferrari or something? Or ask Nathan’s dad to moon the public? What a wasted opportunity.” Chloe said. 

“That would have been hilarious, but I don’t think Sean Prescott would put his son’s future over his own pride. That man is the real monster that made Nathan what he is today.” Max said, thinking about what Victoria had told her about Nathan. 

“You could at least have taken the Ferrari, it seems unfair that you get shot, and everyone but you seems to get something from this deal.” Chloe said. Max thought about that for a second. She could have demanded for more, and part of her wondered why she didn’t. In the end it was a simple answer. Max actually laughed out loud for a moment before speaking.

“Chloe, I was given more than anyone else.” Max announced happily once she had finished laughing.

“Not sure how you came to that conclusion Maxine Newton.” Chloe said, confused. Max became more somber as she answered.

“Chloe, I saw you die, then I was given the power to change it all. I saved Kate Marsh, we solved the disappearance of Rachel Amber, and got those who were responsible for all of this. I might have got shot, but I survived, was able to save your life and get Jefferson arrested before he could hurt anyone else. That’s a literal miracle.” Max said. Chloe was silent for a moment, then changed the topic slightly.

“So when Nathan shot me, I died?” Chloe asked. 

“It certainly looked like you did.” Max answered. 

“So when you went back the last time and stepped out, you thought you were going to sacrifice yourself to save me?” Chloe asked quietly. 

“Yes, I was lucky even to get that choice.” Max said. 

“How is killing yourself a lucky choice?” Chloe asked, a noticeable sound of pain in her voice as she realized how close she had come to losing Max. Max glanced over at Chloe, finally realizing that her decision to sacrifice herself instead of Chloe had been selfish too. 

“Chloe, when we were up by the lighthouse at the end of it all, we both believed that the only way I could stop it from destroying Arcadia Bay would be to go back in time and not interfere, and let Nathan shoot you. You asked me to let you die so that the town would be spared, you even got me to agree to do it. But in the end, I couldn’t go through with it. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing what had happened. I feel blessed that I could be given a choice that saved you and the ones you loved.” Max explained gently. It was Chloe’s turn to be silent for a while, realizing just that Max had been ready to die for her. 

“Max I…” Chloe started, then paused for a moment before going on. “I’ll take then money and pay Frank off, if that’s what will make you happy. Hell, I will even give up on smoking altogether if it makes you happy, or at least I’ll give it a try.” Chloe said. 

“Woah there Price, let’s not be going crazy. Little steps.” Max said. Then she looked around as they reached Chloe’s house. 

“Welcome to case de Chloe. Mom and step-douche should still be at work, we should have some time to ourselves.” Chloe said, unlocking the house and walking in. Max followed close behind, closing the door behind her. 

“You eaten yet?” Chloe asked as she flung herself onto the couch, turning on the TV and switching it to a random channel. 

“Hmm… no. I sorta lost track of time.” Max said after a moment. 

“I could make you something if you want? I missed out on breakfast too.” Chloe said. 

“When did you learn how to cook?” Max asked, slightly impressed.

“When I started wanting to avoid step-jerk in the morning. I might not be as good as mom but it’s not bad either.” Chloe explained. 

“That would be awesome.” Max said, and Chloe smiled. 

“Alright then, you wait right there and I will make us an omelette or something.” Chloe said happily, heading off to the kitchen. Max waited around for a moment, then decided to head outside. She quickly ended up on the single swing, gently moving back and forth as she contemplated the future. She still had a bit of spare money from what the Prescotts gave her, and she had an idea of what to do with it. Eventually, Max realized that she was happier than she had been in a long time, and took out her camera, taking a selfie to ensure the moment stayed with her. The camera printed the image quickly, and Max looked at the picture as soon as it was done. To her surprise, she was actually smiling in the photo. In her other selfies, she looked either serious or excited, but never just happy. Maybe it was a sign that she was doing something right for once. 

 

“That’s my dad’s old camera, when did you get that?” Chloe asked, coming out to see Max on the swing. 

“You gave it to me actually, on the first day that I got my rewind, I broke my camera and you gave me this one.” Max explained. Chloe gave her a quizzical look.

“So why didn’t you just rewind and make sure not to break it?” She asked. Max stopped swinging in the chair, thinking about it for a second. 

“Huh… I guess I could have. I never thought about it.” Max said. Chloe laughed slightly.

“Some superhero you are.” Chloe said, stepping behind Max and pushing the swing she was on.

“Remember when we used to push each other as high as we could get, and I always chickened out before I fell off.” Max said.

“I do remember, but now were older, and I am stronger.” Chloe said, grinning as she gave the swing a much stronger push. 

“Chloe… hey… **Chloe!** ” Max started shouting in a panic as Chloe gave her stronger and stronger pushes in the swing, sending her higher and higher. Ironically, as Max had been too afraid in the past to let Chloe push her this high, now she was too scared to let go. 

“Fly Super-Max! Stop being scared and go for it.” Chloe yelled as Max went higher. 

“Chloe I am going to… aaah!” Max’s threat became a scream of fear and excitement as the swing finally went full circle, with a terrified Max holding onto it desperately. When it went full circle, Chloe stopped, falling to the side that she was laughing so much. Once it had stopped moving, Max shakily got off the swing.

“Really? You thought that was funny? I almost peed my pants!.” Max said, which made Chloe laugh even louder.

“That was hilarious! You jump in front of a psycho with a gun without a second thought, then almost pee yourself on a kiddies swing! Oh man, you've got some weird priorities.” Chloe said once she finally got her breath back. Max was still trying to think of a witty retort when Chloe continued. 

“Let’s go Braveheart, lunch is served.” Chloe said, taking Max by the hand and leading her back inside. There was two plates of what looked just like Joyce’s omelette, with sausage and bacon along with it. As Max stated eating, Chloe had to ask.

“So how is it?” Chloe asked. Max was tempted to say that it was awful just to get back at Chloe, but she didn’t think her ability to lie was good enough for that.

“Its… its actually amazingly good, you really picked up your mothers talent for cooking.” Max said with a sign. 

“At least I have one good trait then. So what do you want to do?” Chloe asked as she started her food, glad that Max approved of it too. 

“Actually, I was just thinking, I still have a bit of the Prescotts money left.” Max started before Chloe interrupted her.

“Enough to get that Ferrari?” She asked. 

“You really have a one-tracked mind. Nowhere near enough for that, but it might be enough to rent an RV and go on a road trip for a few days, just the two of us like we wanted to do when we were kids.” Max said. Chloe paused at the suggestion. 

“That sounds like a great idea. I had been wanting to do something like that myself, but to get away properly with Rachel and go to LA.” Chloe said, and as Max nodded, unsurprised, Chloe continued.

“You already knew that didn’t you? I told you in the other time?” Chloe asked, and Max nodded again.

“So do you still want to leave for good?” Max asked.

“If you had asked me a few days ago I would have said hell yeah, but I don’t know anymore.” Chloe said. 

“That’s a relief. It would suck having almost destroyed reality to save you just for you to run off without me.” Max said. Chloe actually laughed at that. 

“Please, you would be right there with me; Chloe and Max, taking on the world.” Chloe said. 

“That sounds like a plan, but can we wait for my studies at Blackwell to end before we book this around the world tour?” Max asked. Chloe snorted at that.

“Only because you asked so nicely, and the whole saving my life thing. I can use that time to sort out my life a bit.” Chloe said, finishing off her food and pushing away the plate.

“When you said that you would give up smoking if I asked, were you serious about that?” Max asked curiously.

“I guess so yeah. After seeing you sort out so much shit in these past few days, it makes me want to get back up and make the world bow, it’s what Rachel would have wanted.” Chloe said after a moment.

“OK then. Once things calm down a bit let’s try.” Max said, and Chloe nodded. 

“Calm down? Good luck with that. Seriously though, Let’s try it , but you have to catch me when I fall, I don’t think I can do it on my own.” Chloe said.

“I’ll always be there to catch you.” Max said casually, and Chloe laughed.

“Calm down there Romeo, you just want to do this road trip thing because you want to kiss me again don’t you?” Chloe teased. Max smiled an evil smile as she answered.

“You must be the Romeo here then, because all of that was originally your idea.” Max said smugly. Chloe blinked in surprise, then yelled out.

“It’s not fair! You knowing things about the future I don’t!” Chloe cried out. Max laughed.

“Then that makes things even after you threw me over the swing.” She said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! No sadly this doesn't have any Chasefield in, but then might end up being friends after all this, and maybe Vic will find someone else???


	5. It's a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max finally gathers the courage to ask Chloe out on a date. But despite all of her planning, Max forgets one little detail.

Chapter 5- It’s a Date

 **“Chloe!!!”** Max shouted as she woke up from another nightmare, her arm stretched out trying to rewind time, to prevent Chloe from being shot by Nathan once again. Now awake and alert, Max looked around to gather her surroundings. She was alone in her dorm room at Blackwell academy. It was now two weeks since Nathan had shot her in that girl’s lavatory, and while her wound was doing a good job of healing up, Max was still having nightmares just about every night. Most of them involving Chloe, sometimes Kate and even Victoria dying with Max being powerless to stop it. As much as she didn't like to think about it, Max was still a mental mess. She was still jumping at every noise that sounded like a gunshot, and she now apparently sometimes got panic attacks whenever she heard thunder. On the other hand, she was undoubtedly sure that her decisions had been right, both her decision to take a stand, and her decision to fight and live on, no matter the consequences. Reminding herself of her choices always helped her calm down, and after a few moments her hands stopped shaking.

Slowly calming herself down, Max noticed that there was light coming in through the window, then looked to her clock; just before 11am. She was still sleeping for prolonged amounts of time, partly her body using her energy to recover from her injury, but probably more because she was a high school student, everyone tended to stay up late. She had been even spending a few evenings with Victoria now, either chatting about random stuff or watching some TV series or movie. The two of them had decided to keep up their total honesty with each other, and so far it seemed to be working. It was a lucky thing that Victoria didn’t suspect that Max had changed, as Max would probably tell Victoria the truth about her rewind and what happened if she asked. Max’s musings were brought to a hold when she remembered what she meant to do today- she was going to finally ask Chloe on a date. More specifically, meant to do today was really Max forcing herself to do it, as she had been too much of a chicken to do it spontaneously. 

Max got out of bed, looking back at her sweat-stained bed sheets with annoyance. Not only were her nightly nightmares playing havoc with her sleep patterns and clarity of mind, she also had to waste huge amounts of money on laundry. Sighing, Max left it for later, making sure to water Lisa, and checked her emails before she showered. Thankfully, her inbox was no longer full of get well messages. Peoples new focus of gossip was now Rachel Amber, Nathan Prescott and Mark Jefferson, whose trial date was meant to be announced soon. Max expected to be called as a witness, and while she was not looking forward to that in the slightest, she was excited to see Jefferson face justice. Closing her emails, Max took her toiletries things and went to take a shower. For once, things were quiet in the dorm. It normally was on a Saturday morning, with the early students already out of bed and the late students having a late morning still. Max quietly had a shower and brushed her teeth, then headed back to her own room, her refreshed mind focusing on what she had to do today. 

She wasn’t planning anything fancy, Chloe wouldn’t approve. Max was just planning on taking her to a movie, getting some take out and relaxing at home. Even though Max doubted Chloe would say no, for some reason she was still terrified at having to do this. She was probably just afraid of rejection, something she had actually improved on a lot over the ‘week of rewind’, as she now called it. At least someone would always disagree with her actions, and she had learned to mostly ignore that as long as she was happy with it. Chloe was of course another matter. Even as Max got changed, she was still going over what she was planning on saying beforehand, what she would do if Chloe said no, what movie they would watch and so on. Finally, once she was dressed and ready to go, Max turned to face her mirror. Sometimes Max barely recognized her reflection, having changed so much. On days like today, she looked similar to how she used to before the week of rewind; shy and scared.

“Come on Max. You have dealt with psychopaths, taken a bullet for someone, drove a car in the middle of a hurricane without ever having taken a driving test and almost torn reality apart. You can do this too… right? Right.” Max finished psyching herself up, though still had to force herself out her dorm.

Outside and in the open air, Max felt a bit better. There was a light breeze coming though, making the normally warm day very pleasant even around midday. Feeling calmer, Max headed out of Blackwell, getting onto the school bus that took her into town. Meeting with Chloe almost every day, Max was now well acquainted with the buses that took her around Arcadia Bay, even smiling and saying hello to the bus driver as she got on board. Only being a small town, it didn’t take Max long to reach her stop, she barely had time to plug in her headphones and listen to a single song (Hollow Glow by Hannah Telle in case you were wondering) before she reached Chloe’s house. Of course, being Max, she had already checked to make sure that Chloe was in, having asked her the day before for her plans. Typical Chloe, on a Saturday she usually hadn’t even gone out of the house at all, normally keeping to her room to avoid David until he left. Happily (and surprisingly), David and Chloe were getting along much better than before, with David having taken down his surveillance, he was actually acting more trusting. Chloe didn't hate him anymore either, having discovered that David had been searching for Rachel Amber and had saved Max’s like in the other time. 

Max’s musings almost made her miss her stop, and quickly rushed off the bus, walking slightly down the road until she came upon Chloe’s house, with its distinctive half painted wall. Feeling more nervous again, Max knocked on the door, which was luckily opened by Joyce (luckily since Max now had another chance to escape rather than going through with it). 

“Hey there Max. Nice of you to drop on bye. Chloe’s still in her room as per usual.” Joyce said smiling happily. Max smiled back. Out of everyone, the one person to get the most out of this was probably Joyce, having her family more united and happy than ever since William’s accident. 

“Thanks Joyce. You enjoying your time off?” Max asked politely as she walked inside. 

“I wish. Time off for me usually means more chores at home. But you, Chloe and David are all here, so it’s not too bad.” Joyce explained, moving to take her old seat next to David, who nodded in respect and waved to Max, who nodded and waved back. As much as Max was tempted to join them and watch TV for a while, she knew that she shouldn’t hold this off any longer. She had already held off doing this for almost a week. Sighing with her stomach feeling full of butterflies, Max headed upstairs, then stopped just outside of Chloe’s room. Surely she could at least spare one more moment to go over this one more time? Max started pacing next to the door, murmuring what she was planning on saying when she went inside, then was interrupted by Chloe’s voice from her room.

“That you Max? Some people think talking to yourself is a sign of madness you know? The door isn’t locked or anything.” Chloe shouted at her through the door. Max winced slightly, having been caught, then opened the door and went inside. Chloe was already dressed, and was lying on her bed as usual. There was quiet music playing; Lua by Bright Eyes. 

“What brings you to my home at such an early hour?” Chloe asked in an overdramatic tone of voice. Max had noticed that Chloe talked and acted differently when she was around, and honestly she did the same when Chloe was around. She felt like she didn’t have to put on any act, she was just herself. 

“Early hour? It’s the afternoon sleepy head.” Max pointed out, avoiding the question.

“Good insight inspector Max. So I slept in late, bet you did too. Now what’s up?” Chloe said, and Max blushed slightly as she realized Chloe was right. She was also blushing as she tried to gather up the courage to speak.

“Well… I…I was maybe… w…wondering if you wanted to go out and see a movie?” Max asked, stuttering over herself. It was a habit she hated in herself. Whenever she was nervous or anxious she started to stutter. She would have made a terrible public speaker. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe raised an eyebrow as Max spoke, smiling smugly as she did so. While Max was almost never nervous around her, Chloe instantly realized what the hipster was trying to say and why she was so nervous. Despite having no memories of the week of rewind, Chloe felt like she knew Max better than she knew herself, and Chloe knew exactly how to answer.

“Why? We could just watch a movie right here for free. What’s so special about going out?” Chloe asked, pretending not to understand at all. Recently, one of her favorite games was to tease Max, there was very little in the world as adorable as Max being nervous about something like this. At her words, Max started blushing even more, and Chloe had to keep herself from laughing.

“W…Well… I sorta… kinda meant…. what I meant to say was…what’s so funny?” Max finished stumbling as she noticed the grin on Chloe’s face.

“You are, you are so cute when you get like this.” Chloe pointed out smugly. 

“I…I just meant that.” Max started, then Chloe started laughing. Finally, when it looked like Max might not get the courage to speak at all, Chloe quietened down, looking at Max without the grin on her face.

“OK. Just calm down and start again from the beginning. What were you asking?” Chloe said more seriously now. She knew fully well what Max meant to say, but she still needed to hear it for herself. Max took in a deep breath before speaking this time. 

“OK. What I meant to say… would you like to go to the see a movie with me? Like a… date?” Max finally asked, now blushing a bright red. At this point, Chloe really knew she should be nice to Max, but she couldn’t help just one more joke.

“Like a date date? Max I… you’re my best friend but…” Chloe started, giving Max a sidelong glance. Of course, Max looked terrified and a bit mortified, and Chloe laughed again. At seeing the confusion on Max’s face, Chloe relented, moving over and kissing Max on the cheek.

“I was joking Max. Of course I will go on a date with you. It certainly took you long enough to ask.” Chloe said. Max spluttered for a moment, taken aback.

“But you just…” Max stammered in confusion, and Chloe laughed again as she answered.

“Sorry Max, you are just so adorable when you get freaked like that.” Chloe said. Max blushed for a moment more, then calmed down, smiling as she realized that Chloe had said yes. 

“So when? You want me to pick you up?” Chloe asked.

“I’ll meet you at seven. And no thanks, I’ll book us a taxi.” Max answered.

“Ooh la la. Look at you being serious about this. Sounds like a plan.” Chloe said. Max finally sighed, relieved that it was over, then she looked back up at Chloe suspiciously.

“Wait a second, when did you realize what I was trying to ask?” Max asked. 

“Since the second you started stuttering.” Chloe said with a grin on her face.

“You bitch.” Max said jokingly, and Chloe laughed at that.

“Hey, you’re the one who asked me out right? You sure know how to pick them.” Chloe pointed out. Max nodded at that, reaching into her bag and taking out her camera.

“Yes. Yes I do.” Max agreed, taking a selfie of the both of them, to capture this moment forever. 

 

Having gotten her date and taken a picture to remember the moment, Max quickly headed back to Blackwell. Using the bribe money the Prescotts had given them, Chloe was heading out after lunch to finally pay-off Frank, and Max didn’t want to make Chloe late for that meeting. Taking the bus back through town and entering her school, Max made her way back to her dormitory. As she entered her room, Max did a quick inventory of her clothing, then stepped back, cursing quietly. Typically, after all of the planning Max had gone through, she had neglected what she would wear. She had just assumed that she would get a dress and so on, but hadn’t realized that she really didn’t have a nice dress. Sure she had some nice clothes, but she had left those in Seattle, having at the time believed she would never need them, as she was that shy photography girl everyone would ignore. She still kinda was, but now she was in an emergency, There were so many things she had not considered. For the briefest moment Max was even tempted to call Chloe and call it off, for fear of ruining it. But then, Max was not the type of person to back down, not anymore. If she had become anything through the week of rewind, it was brave. Brave and very stubborn. 

Of course, a normal girl would probably go to her friends for help with this, but Kate never went out like this, and Warren would be about as much help as Nathan…  
Suddenly the idea came right to Max. Of course! Victoria was a master of this type of thing. Even now, the idea of coming to Victoria for help felt like a really bad one at first, but then life was strange. Victoria had proven herself to be someone she could rely on when in a bind. Max had certainly not predicted that when she had first arrived at Blackwell. Max quickly got off her couch, and got out of her room. Before Max knocked on Victoria’s door, she briefly gave a look over at her friend’s message board. This time it was a quote from Martin Luther King. Once, Max would have thought that both ironic and pretentious. Now it just seemed like Victoria trying to say something nice. The blame for their rivalry was definitely on her as well as Victoria. Having a thought, Max turned to her own message board, which was currently blank. After everything that had happened, she had completely forgot to write something new on it, having just rubbed out everyone’s messages of get well soon. Now, Max wrote a new message there. It simply read 

Life  
is  
Strange

Max put down her pen, satisfied for once. Right now it perfectly reflected her life, having changed reality, becoming friends with Victoria of all people and exposed her once favorite teacher as a monster. Having written her new masterpiece, Max turned back and knocked on Victoria’s door. 

“Hey Victoria, do you have a minute?” Max asked, raising her voice so that Victoria could hear her. 

“Sure, come on in.” Victoria’s voice answered a moment later. Max opened the door, and found Victoria sitting cross-legged on her bed, her I-pad out and playing some kind of game. 

“What’s up Max?” Victoria asked as Max closed the door, and sat on the chair next to her. 

“I… I kinda need some help. Ok…. I really need some help.” Max said after a moment. Victoria looked up from her writing for a moment, an eyebrow raised in surprise. 

“And you came to me for help? What’s up, found something your textbooks couldn’t answer?” Victoria asked. Once more, an old Max would have taken that as an insult, and old Victoria would have meant it like one. Now though it was an honest question. 

“Not exactly, I have a... a date tonight and I have no idea what I am doing.” Max said quickly, still feeling nervous just talking about it. At that, Victoria said up, putting her I-pad away and devoted all her attention to Max. 

“Really Max? I thought you weren’t interested in Warren? Or has someone else taken your eye? Who is it?” She asked curiously. Max couldn’t blame her curiosity, Max had shown no interest in any guy on campus. 

“It’s umm…” Max started nervously, and Victoria interrupted her. 

“Don’t worry about it Max. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to, and I won’t judge. Is it Hayden?” Victoria asked excitedly. 

“No… do you know Chloe Price? Blue hair with tattoos?” Max finally said nervously. Victoria was silent for a moment, then sat back, laughing. At seeing Max’s hurt expression, Victoria spoke.

“Sorry Max, but that really wasn’t what I expected to hear. I had no idea you were into girls, and that Blue haired one is … well she’s kinda a bitch. You know she got expelled from school?” Victoria said, trying not to hurt Max’s feelings with her dislike of Chloe. 

“Yeah, she can be a bit tough sometimes. So yeah, it’s with Chloe. Please don’t tell anyone about this.” Max said. 

“No problem, like I said I won’t judge, though I never would have expected you to be into girls, especially that girl.” Victoria said. 

“No kidding, I didn't really expect it either.” Max said, swinging in her chair slightly, feeling relieved that Victoria didn’t seem to mind. 

“So Max, if you don’t mind me asking. When did you find out you were into girls?” Victoria asked curiously. Max thought about it for a moment before answering.

“I don’t know really. I was just never very interested in guys as I got older. Then Chloe came along and…” Max finished mid-sentence, smiling briefly as she thought about it. At seeing her smile, Victoria relented.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But have you told Kate yet? I don’t know her very well, but she is very religious.” Victoria warned.

“You’re the first person I told. I don’t think Kate will freak… at least I hope she won’t.” Max said. 

“Well thanks for telling me first. I would offer to go with you when you talk to Kate about it, but that would probably make things worse. Now let’s get you sorted for you date. How much time do we have?” Victoria asked, suddenly getting up and looking to her watch. 

“It’s at seven.” Max said, and Victoria frowned. 

“Just over six hours then, not very long.” She said, musing. Max smiled in confusion. 

“Isn’t six hours long enough? What do we have to do?” Max asked. Victoria rolled her eyes as she answered. 

“Max, it was a good thing you came to me. For starters there is what you will wear. Do you even have a proper dress? I shouldn’t have bothered asking that question. We don’t have time to have it tailor made, so let’s pray we can find a good one in town. Then there's your hair… don’t even get me started on your hair. Let’s just say this could take a while.” Victoria said, shaking her head. 

“Right… thanks Victoria. I would be screwed without you.” Max said. Victoria paused at that, then smiled. 

“That’s what friends are for, or some bullshit like that. Now let’s go, the sooner we find you an outfit the sooner we can start working on your hair.” Victoria said, leading Max out the door.

 

Not wasting any time, Victoria led Max back out to Arcadia Bay, heading straight for the few clothing stores that the town had. In all honesty, Max had never been the most stylish of people. Chloe had been right when she had said Max didn’t have her own style. She just got stuff she thought was clever or nice without any specific theme in mind. Victoria was another matter. 

“OK, what kind of style would you prefer? A dress or something more casual?” Victoria asked Max as they were looking through various outfits. 

“Umm… I don’t know. Chloe always just wears casual stuff.” Max said, not sure what to do. Victoria stopped what she was doing and gave Max a look as she replied. 

“Max, you don’t pick your outfit based on what Chloe would normally wear, you base it on what you want and you own in.” Victoria said confidently, which made Max even more worried. 

“But I don’t know what to wear, I’m hopeless at this.” Max said. Victoria smiled slightly as she answered her. 

“That’s just because you don’t know what is you. You need to experiment a bit with what kind of clothing makes you feel good. How about this?” Victoria finished by pulling out a dark blue dress. Max looked at it for a moment, giving it consideration. 

“I’m not sure, it feels too strong for me.” Max said after a moment. 

“Maybe you’re right. How about this one?” Victoria said, pulling out a dress with a similar light shape, but a more muted red color, one that was nice, but wasn’t as obtrusive as the previous one. Max looked at this one too. 

“I guess I could try it on, just to see how it looks.” Max said hesitantly. 

“Sounds like a plan. I will wait by the changing rooms for you.” Victoria said, leading Max over to the changing rooms. Max quickly got changed, feeling slightly strange wearing such a dress. Even muted, red was usually too strong a color for her. Even so, she was willing to give it a try. Once dressed, Max opened the curtain, walking over to Victoria. 

“Not bad at all Max, though we would need to work on the whole outfit of course. How does it feel?” Victoria asked. 

“It feels a bit unusual, but not too bad.” Max answered honestly, looking at herself in a large mirror to the side. 

“It’s bound to look a bit unusual at first, I think it looks pretty good.” Victoria said, and Max nodded in agreement. 

“You OK with this then? We will need to get you a pair of shoes to match too.” Victoria said, and Max agreed with her once again, going back behind the curtain to change back into her normal cloths. 

“Hey Victoria, can we avoid getting anything with very high heels? I don’t want to fall on my face or anything.” Max asked when she came back out. Victoria thought about it for a moment before answering. 

“Traditionally people usually wear heels with this kind of dress, but we’re artists, we’re meant to break from tradition. A light pair of red boots would probably match well with it.” Victoria answered as they headed to another part of the store. The hunt for the perfect set of shoes to match took a lot longer, with them ending up going through almost every shoe store in the Bay. When Max had wanted to make a compromise, Victoria disagreed, stating that they she shouldn’t accept good enough with something like this. Eventually, they did find the perfect pair, a light pair of red boots. Putting her new outfit into a bag, Max turned to Victoria.

“Thanks for the help. I would never have been able to do that without you.” Max said. 

“Don’t make it sound like we’re done. We still need to get your hair sorted.” Victoria answered. 

“Victoria, you have already taken so much time out to help me, I can’t take up any more of your time.” Max protested, and Victoria turned to face her. 

“Max, I can tell how important this is to you, there isn’t anything else I would rather be doing.” Victoria declared. 

“Victoria… thanks. You really are a great person.” Max said after a moment. Victoria smiled as she looked away for a moment.

“Yeah, I guess I now have a good friend to learn it from. Seriously though, you tell anyone and I will unfriend you on facebook.” She replied. Having agreed to continue, Victoria took Max out to her hair stylist. 

“So what should I do with my hair? I was never into styling and all that.” Max admitted as they went in. 

“I noticed. Don’t worry, they are the best here.” Victoria said as they were greeted by a hairdresser. 

“My friend has a date tonight. She doesn’t want any massive changes, just do what you do best.” Victoria instructed them as Max was ushered into a seat. The entire process took a while, with Max looking on, half worried half amazed as they steadily worked on her hair, with Victoria chatting with the hairdresser as if they were old friends, which considering how often Victoria had her hair styled was probably true. 

“And voulais, my work is done.” The hairdresser eventually announced. Max looked at her hair in surprise. She had expected them to simply straighten it or something, and had been almost scared they would dye it, but they had not done anything like that. It looked similar, but just… better. Her hair seemed to be deeper than before, but also less baggy. It was also slightly longer, they had added a few extensions to it. 

“Wow, that’s amazing, thanks.” Max said after a moment. She really was surprised at the difference it had made. She and Victoria thanked and payed the hairdressers, then left the stylist, heading back to their dorm. As they got the bus back, Max glanced down at her watch. To her surprise, it was already 5, she only had two hours left. 

“Wow, that took ages.” Max mentioned, and Victoria nodded. 

“I told you it would. Some things take a long time. You should get ready to head off soon, you don’t want to be late, and you still need to change.” Victoria said. Max nodded, thanking her again as she made to leave. 

“Of course, I will be right back.” Max answered before heading back to her room. As soon as Max returned to her room, she quickly got out her new outfit with her dress and boots, and more slowly got changed, making sure to be careful not to ruin her hair. She was soon done, and she quickly glanced to her phone, checking the time. She only had a short amount of time left, considering how long it would take her to reach Chloe’s house. Max made her way out of her room, knocking on Victoria’s door before entering. Victoria looked up as she came in, smiling happily. 

“Wow Max, you look great. It suits you.” Victoria said after a moment, and Max gave a small twirl around in her dress. "Are you happy with it?" Victoria asked Max as they stood in front of a mirror, a touch of worry in her tone. Max didn't answer at first, it wasn't that she looked like a different person, she just looked, different, but in a nice way.

“Victoria, I don’t know what to say, it’s awesome.” Max said after a moment. 

“Merci, I do know a few things at least.” Victoria said as she sat back on her bed, then had a thought. 

“Before you go, can I get a picture of the finished work?” Victoria asked. Max nodded and stood in the corner so that Victoria could get the lighting on her right, and took a photo of her. 

“Now I will always have this to remember all the work we did today.” Victoria said. 

“Could I take a photo of the two of us, so that I can remember everything you did for me today?” Max asked, and Victoria nodded. Max took her camera out of a handbag she had brought with her, and took a selfie of the two of them. Her analogue camera printed the image quickly, and the two of them looked at the photo. They were still new to being friends, and they were both smiling and even happy in this photo. After all of their rivalry, it felt off for them to be getting on so well. 

“Wow, that looks strange for some reason.” Victoria said, frowning. 

“You’re telling me, it makes a nice change from us scowling at each other.” Max agreed, then continued. “Thanks again Victoria. You spent so much time with me today, I would have been totally lost without you.” Victoria smiled at that as she answered her. 

“Well, I guess that just makes up for the time I spent being a bitch to you.” Victoria said. 

“We are both to blame for that, I owe you one.” Max disagreed, and Victoria sighed. 

“No Max, while you might not have been perfect, I was far harder on you than you were on me. You were the one to try and be friends. You don’t owe me anything.” Victoria said. Max smiled sadly, unable to disagree as she lent forwards and gave Victoria a hug. Victoria paused for a moment in surprise, then returned the hug. 

“Now come on, you had better get going, you don’t want to be late.” Victoria said. Max nodded, thanking her again before leaving. For a while, Victoria sat where she had been, thinking over her day. When Max had first wanted a truce, a part of Victoria had been suspicious. But over the course of the past week, especially today, Max had proven her wrong. Victoria wasn’t sure if their friendship could last, but she was determined to put the effort into making it work. 

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On her way back to her room, Max paused as she looked down the corridor. Her thoughts went back to Victoria asking her if Kate knew about Max and Chloe. If she was honest with herself, Max hadn’t brought it up with Kate. She should know about it of course, but a small silly part of her was still scared that Kate wouldn’t want to be friends with her. Max shook her head of those thoughts. Kate was religious, but she couldn’t be defined by such a label, she was so much more than that. 

There was still a little bit of time before she was meant to leave. Max took in a nervous breath, then walked down the corridor and knocked on Kate’s door. 

“Hey Kate? Do you have a minute?” Max asks through the door. Inside the room, she can hear the sounds of someone moving about before the door opened. 

“Hey Max. Wow, you’re looking great. What are you dressed up for?” Kate said with a smile on her face. Max smiled back, it sure was good to be seeing Kate be happy after everything that had happened. 

“Thanks. That what’s I wanted to talk to you about. Can I come in?” Max asked her, and Kate nods, letting Max come into her room. Before Max said anything, she briefly glanced around the room. It looked a lot brighter in here now. Kate’s mirror was uncovered again, and Max knew that Kate was playing her violin again. 

“How’s things going?” Max asked Kate as the two of them sat down on Kate's bed. Max was still trying to procrastinate before telling her. 

“Things are better thanks. Victoria even apologized for everything the other say, she seemed to be feeling really bad about it all.” Kate replied. Max shook her head in amazement. Things really were strange. 

“That’s good, I know she was regretting it all.” Max said, and Kate nodded. 

“You two seem to be doing a lot better two. Were you watching a movie last night or something?” Kate asked, and it was Max’s turn to nod. 

“Sorry! I didn’t think it was that loud.” Max apologized, but Kate shook her head.

“It’s fine, I could barely hear it. Maybe next time we can all watch a movie together? You, me, Vic, Warren and Chloe?” Kate suggested. Max frowned, trying to imagine Chloe, Warren and Victoria in the same room. Then again, Chloe and Kate got on well together, maybe it was worth a try. 

 

“Sure, that sounds like fun.” Max finally answered. 

“Speaking of which? Why are you all dressed up?” Kate asked. Max paused again, this time because of nerves. 

“I’m uhh… going on a date in a little bit.” Max said, and Kate’s reaction was instant. The normally shy girl actually jumped up in excitement, a huge grin on her face. 

“That’s great! Who’s it with? Chloe?” Kate asked. 

“It’s uh, wait how did you know?” Max said after she realized what Kate had just said. Kate laughed again at Max’s shocked face. 

“It was a little bit obvious from the way you two look at each other. It’s adorable.” Kate explained. Max just sat there for a moment longer, blinking in surprise. Then she realized that Kate was OK with it, exited for her even. 

“Thanks Kate. Thanks for understanding.” Max said in relief, and Kate gave her an understanding look.

“Max, I’m totally fine with it. Just because some of the mean crazy religious people say stuff doesn’t mean it’s true, nor does it mean I have to agree with it. If you’re happy, I’m happy.” Kate said, and this time Max could feel the determination behind her words. They didn’t need to say anything this time, the two of them just stood up and hugged. 

“You have a nice night now.” Kate said, and Max nodded. It seemed crazy that she had been so nervous this morning, while she did have a lot of very valid fears and concerns, she didn’t have to worry about her friends.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. Originally the date was part of this chapter, but this ended up being longer than I expected so its been split in two.
> 
> In addition, special thanks to GrumpyCat42 for reading over this and giving some great feedback and improvements!


	6. Things Anew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe go on a date.

Max took a deep breath as she stood in front of Chloe’s house. She couldn’t remember a time before when she had been this nervous. During the week of rewind she had been a terrified wreck most of the time, but she had spent her entire time reacting to things, and had been rarely nervous. The even crazier thing was this was Chloe she was going to be with. She didn’t know what was more unbelievable; that she was nervous about being with Chloe, that she was going on a date with Chloe, or that it had been Max that had asked first. Chloe had always been the brave one of the two, even after everything that had happened, Max thought she still was. It felt silly to be feeling nervous, she was just going to be with Chloe after all, her first date with the girl she was seriously in love with... oh.

Max walked up to the front door, knocking on it, expecting Joyce to open it. Surprisingly, Chloe was the one to open it. More surprisingly was what Chloe was wearing. She was dressed up in what was partially a suite; with white trousers and a black blazer, but a casual blue shirt underneath that matched her hair. The overall effect was actually awesome, it seemed like the perfect outfit to suite Chloe as she was now. Chloe was similarly taken aback by Max’s outfit that Victoria had helped her with earlier. 

“Wow Max, you look… awesome.” Chloe said after a moment, still looking over Max’s outfit. Max gave her a small twirl, smiling as Chloe complemented the look.

“Thanks, you look great too.” Max said. 

“I dress to impress. Your taxi here?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, parked around the corner. I didn’t know if you needed any more time to get ready so I had him wait around the corner.” Max answered, and Chloe shook her head.

“Nope, mum and David are eating, lucky for me so I didn’t have to answer too many awkward questions.” Chloe said. 

“You didn’t tell them about this?” Max asked, though she wasn’t really surprised. 

“How many people did you tell that you were going on a date with your old best friend? I doubt David would approve of this, though they might have guessed on their own.” Chloe said. 

“Well, I didn’t tell many people, don’t want to be embarrassed when you dump me by the end of the evening.” Max said, and Chloe laughed at that. 

“Come on Super Max, that's impossible, though the idea of us… together feels hella weird still.” Chloe said, shaking her head. 

“I get you. Though it’s a big improvement on the last time I did this.” Max said, thinking of that last kiss in the storm, when Max had been meant to allow Chloe to die. Chloe had told her never to forget her, which blessedly Max did not have to follow. 

“You mean in your week of time travel, yeah, I can imagine that being a bit more hectic than now. But you did an amazing job of saving me.” Chloe said. Max looked over at her, a pained and embarrassed look on her face. 

“Actually I sucked at it.” Max admitted. 

“I’m still here aren’t I? How can you argue with that?” Chloe asked. At first Max didn't answer her. As bad as some of the times had been, watching Chloe die had been the worst of it. Even with Chloe it wasn't an easy topic to talk about.

“Well… you kinda died… a lot.” Max said, thinking back to the multiple times she had seen Chloe die. Chloe's expression turned serious as she listened. 

“That was why I asked you not to save me right? Because we thought I was the problem in all of it?” Chloe asked, and Max nodded. 

“It made sense at the time. It felt like the world was actively trying to kill you sometimes.” Max said. 

“You’re still worried that I might be the problem?” Chloe asked, her voice more subdued, and Max nodded. 

“We were at the time, but I've been thinking about that and it doesn't add up. The day before the storm, you died. Mr. Jefferson shot you and knocked me out after we found out about the Dark Room. Even after you were gone, the storm still happened. It might be connected to me and you, but I think it was more connected with me using my power. The only thing we've done differently in this timeline is me getting shot instead of you, and not using my powers to ruin everything. Desperately trying to make things right with the rewind was causing all the trouble in the first place.” Max explained. Even though Chloe was standing right in front of her, it was still hard to talk about all the times Chloe had died or almost died throughout.

“Well, you still changed time and saved me.” Chloe said, confused, and Max nodded. 

“Mayve that technically that was OK though, it was the act of rewinding that was destroying reality, so if I rewinded to when I started doing it then stopped, then the problem was no longer there.” Max explained. Ever since she had been shot Max had been thinking about this, and while it still didn't really make sense, this was as close to the truth as she could probably get. 

“And your dream of Rachel, how does that fit into things?” Chloe asked. 

“Who knows? Maybe Rachel was the one that gave me this power. I didn’t just save you, we stopped Jefferson too. Or maybe it was just a crazy dream I had because of some fever or stress.” Max said, having very little idea on that point.

“Weird times all right. Well, even if you got your powers from Rachel or some god with really weird priorities, I suppose I can’t complain.” Chloe said, and Max nodded to that. If it really was god, then he did have some bizarre priorities, helping Max and Chloe but allowing Nazism. 

“Hey, didn’t you say you had your first vision before you ever used your power? How does that work?” Chloe suddenly asked, and Max paused at that one. 

“It could be that I had already gone back in time before and don’t remember it, or it was a warning to try and stop me from using my powers at all.” Max said, unsure. 

“Weird way of warning you not to use your powers. If I was given a vision of destruction and super powers right after, that would kinda suggest I was meant to stop it.” Chloe said, frowning. Max nodded in agreement. 

“No kidding. I guess whatever divine power it was has a really bad way of explaining things. We thought that it was trying to tell us to use the rewind last time too. Anyway, we should get going. Don’t want to miss the movie after all.” Max said, and Chloe agreed, heading over to their taxi and going to the cinema. It didn’t take them too long to reach the cinema, Arcadia Bay was barely big enough to have a cinema in the first place. Once they arrived, Max paid the Taxi driver, and Chloe headed straight to a nearby supermarket to buy snacks. Max sighed as she followed her. 

 

“What's wrong with buying snacks at the cinema?” Max asked. She technically knew exactly what Chloe was doing, but it felt wrong to try and sneak food into the cinema nonetheless. 

“Well, neither of us have much money and it all costs way more in there.” Chloe answered, smiling excitedly as she grabbed a drink. 

“Can you let me at least buy popcorn there then? I hate feeling like we are scamming them.” Max said, she generally hated braking rules in general. Chloe snorted as Max said it.

“Max, you should know better than anyone that the scammers are the people in the cinema selling overpriced stuff. Think of this as avoiding being scammed.” Chloe said. Though Max didn’t agree with that, she didn’t want to cause a fuss on their date, so she bought a drink for herself as well. Once they had bought everything they wanted they headed over to the cinema. Despite Chloe calling it a scam, Max still bought a large cup of popcorn as she got their tickets. Everything set, Max took Chloe’s hand and led her to their seats, right at the top of rows of seats. Chloe promptly put her feet up on the seat in front of them as Max placed the popcorn in the cup holder between them. Now that they were actually here and with Chloe, Max didn’t feel nervous any more. When she thought about it, she had stopped feeling nervous the second Chloe had opened the door. When she was around her, everything just felt better.

The two of them didn’t have to wait long for the movie to start. It was one of the new Hunger Games movies. From what Max remembered about the previous one, it was the perfect blend of action and drama that would suit both of them, though Max hadn’t asked Chloe about what kind of movies she liked nowadays, so she hoped this would be a good one. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it turned out, Max was right about her choice. Chloe really did enjoy the movie. At some point, Chloe glanced over at Max, who was totally engrossed in the movie and didn’t notice her look. Chloe studied Max for a moment, not sure what to make of their relationship. They had started out as best friends for years, then Max had left her alone and never contacted her again, only to come back and save her life, literally almost destroying reality itself in a week that only she had gone through. Then they had been best friends again, and Chloe really didn’t know what they were now. She assumed that Max really did have feelings for her, but what if it was some kind of Stockholm syndrome, with Max desperate to save her? And though she thought Max was now hella cute, what if her own feelings for Max was some kind of bizarre hero worship after Max had saved her life? Chloe knew full well that while she had been attracted to Rachel, but Rachel was different to Max in so many ways. Chloe shook her head. She had never been good at working this kind of thing out, she was too impulsive and reactive to think about such things for too long. 

Lost in her own thoughts, Chloe didn’t notice as Max turned to look at her. Feeling braver than usual, Max reached over and silently took Chloe’s hand. Chloe came back out of her thoughts, looking over at Max in surprise. Max smiled, and after a moment Chloe smiled too, putting an arm around Max, and Max lent in to rest her head on Chloe’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a moment, then Chloe spoke out.

“My arm hurts.” Chloe whispered. The chairs were slightly too far apart, and she imagined that Max was getting sore from leaning over in her chair too. Max giggled quietly, pulling away from Chloe, but took hold of her hand once more. Chloe still didn’t know what to make of their relationship, but at this moment she didn’t care, she was happier than she had been in a very long time, that was enough for now. They passed the rest of the movie in comfortable silence. For Chloe, it all too swiftly came to an end. 

“That was cool, that did you think of it?” Max asked Chloe as they were walking out of the cinema, making their way back to another taxi. 

“It was great, nice to see a hot girl kick butt.” Chloe said, and Max faked a huff.

“Hey, aren’t I a hot girl that kicked butt?” Max asked, and Chloe laughed. 

“I can’t exactly see you shooting a bow and arrow, you’re not exactly the fighting type.” Chloe pointed out. 

“Guess I wouldn’t last five minutes in a zombie apocalypse then.” Max said.

“Probably, but then your cool in other ways. After everything you told me about, I think you might be the bravest person ever.” Chloe said, trying to reassure Max. Max actually gave Chloe’s comment a moment of thought before she answered.

“I don’t know. Before I wasn’t brave in the slightest, I was so anti-confrontational that I could barely do anything. But after everything that happened, none of that seems as bad as it was before.” Max said. Chloe smiled, putting her arm around Max as she continued to argue.

“Come on Max, even when things were at their darkest, you never gave up, no matter how dangerous it seemed you never gave up on me. You’re a hero too, just not the fighting kind.” Chloe said, and Max finally smiled. 

“I don’t think I would be without you. You gave me the strength to go on.” Max said quietly, and Chloe faked a retching noise.

“OK, that’s enough sappiness for now. Anything you want to do now?” Chloe said as they reached their taxi. Before Max got in, she answered.

“I’m kinda hungry, but I can’t be bothered to find somewhere to eat.” Max said, she had skipped lunch to prepare for the date.

“I can order us some take out and have it at my place?” Chloe offered, and Max nodded in agreement. They got into their new taxi, and Max gave the driver Chloe’s address to go to, she already knew Chloe’s address by heart. As they drove back, Chloe called up a Chinese take-out restaurant, quickly ordering way too much food for the both of them, and also told them to deliver it to her house. Both Chloe and Max knew it wasn’t the most romantic thing in the world, but they had known each other for long enough not to care about it. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn’t take them long to get back home, and they quietly entered the house, to find that Joyce and David had gone to bed early. Deciding not to disturb them, Chloe parked herself on the couch, then grudgingly let some room for Max to sit down too. Chloe quickly reached over for the remote, and found that it was just out of her reach. 

“Max, help.” Chloe suddenly commanded, reaching out for the remote still and looking expectantly at Max. Max rose an eyebrow at her, as she was sitting just as far from the remote as Chloe was, if not further away. Chloe gave her a puppy dog look, and after a moment of deadlock Max relented, picking up the remote and turned on the TV, switching the channel over to an old series rerun. 

“This ones boring, change it.” Chloe said after a moment, and this time Max laughed. 

“Then you should have got the remote yourself then.” Max said, taking the remote in her other hand and pulling it further away from Chloe. Chloe reached over to grab the remote, and for a good minute the two wrestled for control over the TV, all the while trying to stay quiet not to disturb Joyce and David. The almost silent wrestling was suddenly interrupted by a loud shot sound from outside. Chloe flinched slightly as she heard it, but she knew it was just a passing car backfiring. Then Chloe looked down at Max, who had literally froze at the sound, her eyes wide open and afraid. 

“Max, you OK?” Chloe asked, but Max didn’t reply, her eyes focused on something else as if she was totally lost. Starting to worry, Chloe got off the couch, holding Max’s face in her hands as she looked her in the eye. 

“Max, you’re OK, snap out of it.” Chloe said a bit louder this time, and Max blinked, looking around in confusion like she wasn't sure where she was anymore.

“I… I heard a…” Max stuttered, shivering slightly. 

“It’s just some idiot driving past. Nothing to worry about. You’re safe.” Chloe repeated. Max looked around a moment longer, as if to prove to herself where she was. Chloe lent forwards, giving Max a hug, and this time she could feel Max cling to her, as if she was afraid of her ever letting go. They held each other for a moment longer, and eventually Max backed out of it, but still sat upright, ready to move at a moment’s notice. Chloe sat down next to her, now seriously worried about her. She knew what it was of course, Max didn’t speak about it much, even to her, but Chloe knew that Max was still suffering from her week of super powers. She hid it well, but Chloe knew just how fragile Max was sometimes. 

“Just how bad was it?” Chloe asked quietly, trying to get Max to talk about it. For a moment it looked like Max wouldn’t answer, then she spoke up, her voice was without a stutter, but so quiet it was almost a whisper. 

“It was… it was terrible sometimes.” Max said, unable to put everything that happened into words. Chloe shook her head, nobody but Max had any memories of it, Chloe couldn’t even begin to imagine what had happened, she knew that Max hadn’t mentioned some of the worse details, or just how hard they had been for her. Having to see the ones you care about die over and over again, being tortured and watching as reality rips itself apart, most people would have given up long ago.

“It’s over now. I’m with you.” Chloe said, wrapping an arm around Max, and Max leaned slightly into her, resting her head on her shoulder. She could feel that Max’s breathing was coming a bit steadier now. They were interrupted again as the doorbell rang, and both of them jumped at the sound. Chloe gave the door the gaze of death, angry that it had not only startled Max again, but it also meant that she would have to get up to answer it. Max shifted slightly as if to get the door first so Chloe jumped up.

“I’ll get it.” She said, and left Max to herself for a moment as she answered the door. 

“What?” Chloe demanded angrily before she saw who it was. The teenage boy holding their take-out looked half terrified at Chloe’s angry punk-rock look as he timidly raised the take-out food in his arms. Chloe sighed. She had completely forgotten she had ordered food. 

“Sorry, caught me at a bad moment.” Chloe said apologetically before taking the food and putting it on the floor in front of her, then reached in for her wallet and took out some money to pay for it. Still probably scared of her, the boy took the money, muttered out a thank you and quickly made his way back to his bike. Chloe frowned as she saw his bike, he was probably the one that had backfired in the first place. Suddenly glad she had scared him, Chloe slammed the door closed, then took their takeout and brought it over to the table in front of the TV. It looked like Max was feeling a bit better now, she looked up and smiled as Chloe came back. 

“Dig in Maximus, consider it my treat after you got for the cinema tickets.” Chloe said, taking out the various containers of rice and stir fried meals and placing them all out. Chloe frowned as she realized that they would need something to eat with as well, and got up again, heading over to the kitchen to grab some plates and cutlery. As an afterthought, Chloe opened up the fridge, looking for something to drink, and smiled as she saw a bottle of wine. David would probably complain about underage drinking or something, but Chloe really didn’t care. She took the bottle out , and placed everything on the table in front of Max. Max paused for a moment, looking at the bottle in surprise. Knowing Max, she had probably never had any large amount of alcohol before.

“Chill man, it won’t kill you, and after everything you have been through I would say you deserve it.” Chloe said, and after a moment Max agreed. 

“Hell yeah, did you bring any glasses?” Max asked, and Chloe couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

“You can’t say hell yeah and then ask for a glass. Let go for once!” Chloe said. Max paused for a moment, then took the bottle and raised it up, taking a good drink before she put it down, spluttering slightly. 

“That’s my girl.” Chloe said proudly before she took a swig of wine too, then she turned her attention to the food. The combination of food, TV and alcohol had Max relax and get back to her usual dorky self, and soon they were back to joking and talking about every random conversation that was brought up. Neither noticed the passing of time, and they barely even noticed when they finished all their takeout, leaving it where it was on the table. Max finally yawned, then looked at the time on her phone.

“Woah, good morning Chloe.” Max said, and Chloe glanced at the clock on the wall, noticing with a start that it was already two in the morning. 

“Sleepy? Want to crash here tonight?” Chloe asked, the slightest slur in her voice as she spoke. She could feel the alcohol affecting her, but she didn’t think she was drunk or anything. Drinking almost half a bottle of wine wouldn’t be enough to get her drunk. 

“Oh really? You should at least buy me a drink first.” Max said, giggling at her own joke. Max had drunk just over half the bottle, and not being used to alcohol, was a lot further down the road to drunk than Chloe was. 

“Dude, what do you call drinking half a bottle of wine then?” Chloe said, pointing at the empty bottle. Max stared at the bottle for a second, not having a decent retort to that. Eventually she spoke. 

“Well… fair enough I guess. Can you uh… help me up the stairs? Everything feels funny... oww.” Max said, almost falling over even as she got up, then grimacing in pain slightly as he old gunshot wound hurt again.

“Have you ever been drunk before?” Chloe asked curiously even as she wrapped one of Max’s arms around her, then guiding her towards the stairs. Max gave a small laugh at that one.

“Chloe Price, I will have you know that I wouldn’t get drunk underage if it wasn’t for your bad influence. Since I met you and got my powers I have set off fire alarms, drowned my plant, covered Victoria in paint, broke into Blackwell, made and used a bomb and got my psychopathic monster of a photography teacher arrested. By the end of this year I will probably dye my hair or get a crazy tattoo from your badgood influence.” Max slurred out, and Chloe half payed attention as she got Max up the stairs and into her room, putting her up on the bed.

“Would you really get a tattoo? You could get a matching one for your arm to go with my one.” Chloe asked, and Max shook her head. 

“You will have to get me a lot more drunk to do that one miss Price.” Max said, falling back onto the bed. 

“One day at a time Max. Now I’m going to go and brush my teeth. Stay here, don’t wake up my folks and don’t fall asleep on me.” Chloe instructed. Max gave her a lazy salute to confirm, and Chloe chuckled to herself. Somehow drunk Max was even cuter than normal Max. Leaving Max for a moment, Chloe went to the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth. Chloe returned to her room to see Max fail to take off her dress, and Chloe shook her head, moving over to help.

“This dress was really cool, maybe you’ll find your style yet.” Chloe said as she pulled Max’s dress off, then passed Max her sleepwear as Max folded the dress up and placed in on a chair. 

“Actually, Victoria helped me pick it. I would have totally wiped out otherwise.” Max explained, and Chloe shook her head again. Despite how frail Max seemed to be, even now Chloe was still amazed at what she could do. It was like she was a force of nature, determinedly pulling everyone around her like a magnet, making friends with a bitch like Victoria. Even David now seemed to have huge respect for her, though even Chloe had to admit that David wasn’t as bad as he had been before. Coming back to the present, Max took out a shirt she had left here and put it on, feeling more comfortable now as she removed her boots with some help from Chloe. 

“OK ninja Max, go brush your teeth and whatnot, and we can try and get some sleep.” Chloe said. Max nodded and left the room. While Max was absent, Chloe got changed as well, thinking about it all for a moment. She really didn’t know what to label their relationship. They were best friends, but more than that. Chloe was into Max, and she was pretty sure Max was into her as well. But then, they had been friends for such a long time, despite Max’s constant assurances that she would never leave her, a small part of Chloe was still terrified that taking their relationship to the next level would risk loosing it again, and Chloe couldn’t bear to take the pain of Max leaving. Throughout her life, everyone she had ever cared about had left her; William had left her, Rachel had left her, even Max had left her for five years, with only coincidence bringing her back. If Max left again, Chloe didn’t know how she would deal with it. There was a reason that Max had been the one to kiss her first. As amazing as every moment was with Max, Chloe's fear of abandonment made her hesitant to take it any further. 

“You lost?” A voice asked her, and Chloe turned in surprise to see Max standing in front of her with a slightly drunken smile on her face.

“Damn Max, when did you become a ninja?” Chloe asked in surprise, and Max laughed.

“I became hella good at sneaking during the week of rewind. We broke in to a lot of places we shouldn’t have.” Max explained, turning off the light and lying on the bed next to Chloe. Both of them were silent for a moment, then Max spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“Hey Chloe?” She asked

“Yeah?” Chloe answered. 

“Boop.” Max whispered as she booped Chloe’s nose lightly, making both of them smile. Then Max continued. 

“Thanks for tonight, I had a great time. You know, aside from almost having a heart attack when that car drove by.” Max said, and Chloe nodded. 

“I had a good time to.” Chloe said, and they were silent for a moment longer before Chloe spoke up, unable to keep silent about it, the alcohol in her body fueling her bravery to mention it. 

“Hey Max, what does this make us now?” Chloe asked. 

“What do you mean?” Max asked, shifting around on the bed until she was facing Chloe, their faces only a few inches apart.

“I just… I need to know if this is going to be serious or not. After everything that has happened… I’m just afraid you’re going to leave again.” Chloe whispered. Max was silent for a moment, thinking how best to answer it. 

“Chloe… at the end during the hurricane, you convinced me that you wanted to sacrifice yourself to save the town. I agreed and went back in time, to when I met you in that bathroom. As you walked in on Nathan and started speaking, I was meant to let it happen, and restore everything to the way it had been.” Max said. Chloe didn’t interrupt her, and Max continued.   
“But in the end, I rushed out trying to stop him. I wasn’t strong enough to go through with it. I guess I finally realized something; I wouldn’t want to go through in this world without you, I would rather die. So I jumped out and Nathan shot me. Even as I fell unconscious, I was happy knowing you were still here, even if it could still destroy all of Arcadia Bay. What I am getting at is that if I ever do leave, it would be because I am leaving together with you.” Max said. Chloe was silent for a moment, her heart almost split in two, half anger that Max would have died for her, but also feeling… loved? It wasn’t something she was used to.

“You dork.” Chloe whispered, and Max smiled. 

“Your dork.” Max answered her, leaning slightly in and kissing Chloe lightly on the lips. Chloe felt a thrill of happiness go through her, then Max leaned back.   
“So, Chloe Price, I dare you to be my girlfriend.” Max said with a grin on her face. This time, Chloe leaned in and kissed Max back. 

“Dare accepted Max Caulfield.” Chloe said when they parted, glad that at least one more thing in her life had been sorted.   
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We're getting close to the end of part one of the story now, only two chapters left. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Side note- You ever notice that Life is Strange takes place back in 2013? I had to research (aka google) what movies came out that year for this chapter. And now I feel old. :(


	7. Coming Home and Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe take a brief brake to visit Seattle and Max's parents.

Chloe Price was feeling a bit nervous. And it wasn’t the happy 'I have a massive crush nervous', more of a 'please brain don’t let me fuck this up' nervous. The Blackwell students were having a week off, meaning that Max wanted to go to Seattle to visit her parents for a few days. More specifically, Max wanted both of them to get out of Arcadia for a while to visit her parents.

Chloe was totally OK with getting out of Arcadia. She wasn’t as desperate to escape her hometown as she used to be- now she actually had reasons for wanting to stay. But the idea of going on a vacation with Max sounded hella good. That part of the trip Chloe was really looking forward to. The bit she was less enthused over was going to see Max’s parents. She knew they were good people from her childhood, but things had changed a lot since then. Firstly, she still kinda blamed them for taking Max away from her when Chloe had needed her most. After everything that had happened, she had gotten over that, since Max had come back to save her too. The real reason she was nervous was because she was now dating their daughter. Would they be cool with that? A blue haired tattooed Chloe with a serious number of issues being with their kid? From what Max said, they probably would be cool, but Chloe really wanted them to like her as she was now. 

“You here Chloe?” A voice suddenly intruded on Chloe’s thoughts. Chloe opened her eyes to find Max looking over at her, a light smile on her freckled face.

“Sure am. You ready to go?” Chloe asked her, trying to divert attention away from her worries. It didn’t work. 

“Hey, it’ll be fine. I think my parents secretly liked you more than they liked me.” Max said reassuringly, accurately guessing what was bothering Chloe. Chloe frowned in response. It was true that Max’s parents liked kid Chloe, but that was a long time ago. 

“They used to. What about now?” Chloe said, voicing her worries. At seeing Chloe’s expression, Max properly considered the idea for a moment, then smiled again. 

“Well firstly, they are super relaxed about things like this. Second, even after everything that has happened, you’re still Chloe. Third… if they have a problem with you, then that’s their problem. No way anything they say would change how I feel.” Max answered her, the hipster’s voice serious as well. Chloe took in a deep breath, then nodded. Sitting back in the leather of her car seat, she started the engine of her pickup truck, then pulled out onto the road. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A good ten minutes into their first trip together, and the quiet sound of the car stereo had put Max to sleep. Chloe had given her a good glance at that, as if to say ‘really dude?’, but didn’t wake her up, instead Chloe continued on driving, wondering just what Seattle would be like. At least in her adult life, Chloe had never left Arcadia Bay before. The plan had been to escape the Bay with Rachel and go to LA or somewhere, but that was never going to happen after what Jeffershit and Nathan did to her. Chloe’s annoyed musings were brought to an end when she heard a sound from Max finally waking up after about an hours sleep. The small girl looked around in confusion for a moment as she got her bearings, then yawned and stretched out, idly tapping Chloe on the head as she did so. 

“Nice to see you’re enjoying our road trip so far.” Chloe said to Max, but kept her eyes on the road as she did so. 

“I have been thank you. How long was I out?” Max asked as she glanced out the window curiously. 

“About an hour. It should be another three or so hours before we get there.” Chloe responded, turning up the sound on her stereo now that Max was awake. The two of them were silent for a few more minutes as they watched the trees on either side of the road, the only sound coming from the pickups engine and rush of the wind. They were long past the point in their relationship where they needed to fill silence with awkward conversation. Eventually, Chloe was the one to break the silence. 

“So what’s Seattle like anyway? You don’t mention it much.” Chloe asked. She knew the real reason Max didn’t mention it of course. Max didn’t like bringing up the time they had spent apart. While Chloe didn’t blame Max for never contacting her (anymore at least), it was clear that Max wasn’t going to forgive herself anytime soon, no matter what Chloe said to convince her otherwise.

“Oh, it’s uhh… crowded. I was never the biggest fan of living in a big city, but my parent’s house is out in the outskirts, away from the worst of it.” Max answered her. Chloe had another question, one she was a bit more bothered with.

“Do you have many friends there?” Chloe asked, the smallest hint of hesitancy and worry in her voice as she asked. Before Max had come back, Chloe had imagined Max having loads of friends and never remembering Chloe. She now knew that wasn’t true, and she was actually worried about the opposite. Max was hella shy, and Chloe had already noticed that almost none of the photos on Max’s wall in Blackwell were ones with her friends. 

“Yeah, but not many. There was Fernando and Kristen, but they both moved away to other schools like I did, so there isn’t really anyone here but mum and dad.” Max said. Chloe frowned at that. It seemed crazy that someone as likable and kind-hearted as Max struggled so much to make friends, especially since Max seemed to have now made friends with just about everyone in her dorm and more. 

“Well you certainly did a good job of making friends at Blackwell, what changed?” Chloe asked, and finally Max smiled. 

“Well, you did.” Max answered her simply, making Chloe blush slightly, then coughed and turned her attention back to the road. Neither of them had mentioned it, but it was clear that they were like a better version of themselves when they were together. This time Max spoke up. 

“Oh yeah, I might… not have mentioned to my parents that we are coming to visit, so they might be a bit shocked.” Max said with a mischievous smile on her face. Chloe raised a sarcastic eyebrow at that. Of course Max wanted it to be a surprise, just as she seemed to want it to be a surprise that the two of them were dating now. 

“Damn girl, you’re gonna give your folks a heart attack at this rate.” Chloe said, and both of them laughed. 

“Hey, it’s cool. My dad could probably use a few more shocks in his life anyway.” Max said, and the two of them started chatting about smaller details as their journey continued. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe learned a few hours later that roads trips were really over hyped on TV. As nice as it was to chill with Max, there really wasn't much to do but focus on the road, and silently complain about how stupid her pick-up was for not having any form of cruise control. It felt like an age to Chloe, who had never been driving for more than an hour before, to finish their trip. For the last half an hour they were driving through the residential suburbs of Seattle, with Max guiding Chloe through it, leading them through the maze of houses. It was already clear to Chloe that Max’s parents lived in a better area than Chloe's family did. The streets were all clean and calm, with each house being separated by a large garden and dark evergreen trees, giving a semblance of both privacy and of not being part of a city at all. 

“Here it is on the left.” Max suddenly said, pointing at a well-kept house a little larger than Chloe’s, surrounded on all sides by a ring of trees. There were lights on in the living room, and through the illuminated window Chloe could even see someone that looked a lot like Ryan Caulfield. As they reached their destination, Chloe felt her nerves once more. What if they didn’t like her? What if they objected to them being together? That didn’t stop her from parking her car on the side of the road. But she paused before getting out.

“You OK Chlo?” Max asked her as she noticed Chloe’s expression. Chloe gave her a smile in return. It was a stupid worry anyway.

“Yeah, my butt just fell asleep.” Chloe joked, which wasn't why she paused, but was also completely true. It had been a long drive. Max laughed at that.

“Well you are a smart-ass sometimes. Let’s go before I freeze.” Max said, touching Chloe lightly on the shoulder for a moment before grabbing her bag and getting out of the pick-up. Chloe took a breath, then grabbed her own bag and got out the car. As Max ran up to the house, Chloe stayed behind a moment to lock the car and give her girlfriend a head start before following. As Chloe reached Max, the door opened up in front of them, revealing Vanessa Caulfield. Vanessa opened the door with a smile, then her expression quickly changed as she stood gaping in shock at seeing the two of them at her doorstep.

 **“Max!!! And Chloe! Oh my God Ryan! Max and Chloe are here!!”** Vanessa shouted excitedly. 

“Hey mum” Max said cheerfully, a happy grin on her face as she saw how delighted Vanessa was. Chloe’s nerves disappeared at seeing how happy Vanessa was to see them too. 

“Hey there. Surprise!” Chloe said, still standing slightly behind Max as Ryan appeared from the living room door. 

“Huh… well that is a surprise.” Ryan said after a moment, despite the tone of his voice not sounding surprised in the least. Vanessa turned and glared at him for a moment. 

“Hey, did you know about this?” Vanessa asked him suspiciously, and Ryan quickly rose his hands up as if to say he was innocent. 

“No no no! I just… kinda guessed? Max did say she had a few days off and wouldn’t tell us what she was planning.” Ryan explained, dramatically stroking his beard as if he was a genius for figuring it out. Max huffed slightly, disappointed that her dad had seen straight through her plan. 

“So uh… can we come in? It’s hella cold out here.” Max asked, and it was Ryan’s turn to grin. 

“Oh, your room has been taken over by European exchange students. Lovely kids but their English is terrible.” Ryan said, but his tone made it clear he was joking. Max and her mum shared a tired glance, their usual response to Ryan’s humor, then Max stepped into the house and gave them both a hug. Surprisingly, Vanessa also gave Chloe a hug as she entered. 

“It’s nice to see you too Chloe.” Vanessa said to her as Max and Ryan spoke. Chloe smiled back a bit awkwardly. 

“Thanks, and sorry that we didn’t warn you we were coming.” Chloe responded, doing her utmost to be polite to Max’s parents. 

“Don’t worry about it! It was a great surprise. Oh we don’t have a spare room though, are you OK with sharing a room with Max?” Vanessa asked. Chloe actually coughed at that, desperately trying not to let out a very inappropriate joke that immediately came to mind. 

“She’s fine with it!” Max shouted from the top of the staircase, already carrying her bag up to her room. Chloe grinned, now avoiding a totally new inappropriate joke. Max waved for her to follow, so Chloe followed Max up the stairs. 

“Dinner is in a few hours you two! It’s a good thing we have a stockpile of food!” Ryan shouted up to them. 

“Thanks dad!” Max shouted back down quickly, and Chloe smiled. It was hella weird, being back in this kind of family situation, and made her feel a bit melancholic, reminding her of better times when her own dad had been around, and her and Max hadn’t a care in the world.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Welcome to my world.” Max said, opening the door to her bedroom and letting Chloe in. For a moment Chloe just stood in the doorway smiling. Like in Blackwell, Max’s room was almost like an extension of her own being. Unlike Chloe’s room that was a riot of colors and images, Max’s room was much more muted, from the light blue carpet to the generic beige walls. Max’s walls were covered in various posters from artists Chloe didn’t recognize, to bands she did know about. The wall above Max’s bed was clearly where here old photo collage had been, but a large number of pictures had been removed. There were still dozens of pictures on the walls though, and Chloe saw herself in about half of them. Max followed Chloe's gaze settle on the remaining pictures. 

“Yeah, I didn’t want to take all the pictures of you with me to Arcadia. I… I didn’t think you would want to see me again after what happened.” Max admitted next to Chloe. Chloe glanced over at her, but Max was conspicuously looking in the other direction. 

“Hey, it’s cool. We’re here now, together.” Chloe said, still looking over all of the pictures on the wall. In a way it was nice to know that Max hadn’t forgotten about her here in Seattle. Chloe continued looking around the room, noticing a large desk in the corner of the room. For the most part it was empty, but there were a few bits and pieces around it, pens and notebooks, a small pile of postcards. As soon as Max saw the desk, the smaller girl immediately rushed over and picked up the postcards, putting them away in a draw. 

“What? Your secret porn collection?” Chloe asked with a teasing grin. Max’s blushed, but shook her head. 

“No.” Max answered, but didn’t elaborate. Chloe stared at her for a moment more, and Max groaned in embarrassment. 

“OK, so I might have… written a few letters and postcards to you and then got scared and never sent them.” Max finally said. Chloe blinked in surprise for a moment, then burst out laughing. 

“Aww you’re too cute!” Chloe said, grabbing Max and enveloping her in a large hug.

“Chloe… can’t breathe….” A slightly squished Max sounded from under Chloe’s hug, and the taller girl released her hold. As funny as it was, Chloe was glad that Max had never forgotten her, and she knew all too well that fear of rejection. She had broken more than a few friendships because of it. 

“So can I read though them?” Chloe asked, and Max shook her head even more adamantly. 

“I’ve already been embarrassed enough thank you very much.” Max said, though since Chloe was almost as nosy as Max herself, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Chloe read them at some point. 

“Now come on, let’s get unpacked and get downstairs. I bet my parents are dying to ask us about everything.” Max said, and this time Chloe nodded. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe groaned as her stomach protested the amount of food she had put in it. Max’s parents hadn’t been joking when they had said they had a stockpile of food. It almost felt like they had just gone through a thanksgiving dinner. 

“I don’t think I can move” Max said next to her, and Vanessa smiled. 

“Glad to see you liked it. I was worried Joyce’s cooking would make mine seem pathetic.” Vanessa said. 

“Joyce’s cooking is amazing, but this was great too.” Max replied. 

“Lord I miss Joyce’s cooking.” Ryan said, and Vanessa gave him a look.

“Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence.” Vanessa said after a moment, making both Max and Chloe chuckle. 

“The food was great, I don’t think I’ve eaten that much in years.” Chloe said, still trying to be polite even if she did think Joyce’s cooking was better.

“Anyways, how is life in Arcadia Bay and Blackwell?” Vanessa asked them. Chloe briefly exchanged a glance with Max. There was no way they would be able to explain all the crazy stuff that had happened over the last two or three weeks. Chloe still wasn’t sure how much time had passed for Max compared with everyone else. In the end Chloe decided to let Max answer, picking up her glass of pop (soda) and drinking some. 

“It’s uhh… a bit crazy sometimes. It sucks that I don’t have a proper photography teacher anymore though.” Max said. This time Vanessa and Ryan exchanged looks, no doubt worrying about the whole issue of Max getting shot, and Jefferson being arrested. Chloe suddenly remembered that just after Max had been injured, her parents had come and tried to take her back home, and Max had refused. At least they didn’t seem too bothered about that.

“You know you can take as much time off as you want, and Chloe can stay as long as she wants too!” Vanessa said, as if she had been remembering the same moment. 

“It’s OK, I have loads of friends in Arcadia now. Also I…” Max’s voice petered off, and she looked over at Chloe for support. Chloe recognized the hesitancy and nervousness of Max’s tone, and knew what this was about. Max wanted to tell her parents about the two of them, maybe even having to come out to them for the first time. Underneath the table, Chloe took hold of Max’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

“I…I also have something to tell you both.” Max said, her voice stuttering slightly because of her nerves. Vanessa and Ryan both were quiet, letting Max continue without pressuring her. Chloe looked at the two of them for a moment. Neither of them seemed worried. It wouldn’t surprise her if they had already guessed what Max was about to say.

“So uh… Chloe and I are… kinda… together now.” Max eventually managed to say. Despite how ridiculously nervous Chloe was now feeling, she also felt a bit proud that Max had finally said it. It took a lot of bravery to come out to anyone, especially ones parents. 

Ryan and Vanessa looked a bit surprised. There was a moment of silence, then Ryan smiled. 

“Well then, I guess I owe William twenty bucks.” Ryan said. Chloe and Max looked confused at him for a moment, but then Chloe heard the sound of an audible under the table kick from Vanessa and Ryan coughed. 

“Right, what I meant to say was that as long as you two are happy, which you seem to be, then we're happy too.” Ryan said. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Chloe laughed and the tension dissolved immediately. 

“What was that about owing my dad twenty bucks?” She had to ask. Ryan smiled as he relived the old memory.

“Well a long time ago when I was at you’re house. William was wondering if the two of you would get together. I laughed, said it was silly, then he bet me twenty bucks that you two would get together sometime in the future.” Ryan explained. Chloe was silent for a moment. That was so totally her dad, shipping the two of them even back then. He was such a dork. But he had also been completely right. It wasn’t fair that William had to die before his time, but at least by some miracle Max and Chloe were still together. 

“So you’re all right with us being together?” Max asked them, still a little nervously. Ryan blinked in surprise and answered. 

“What? Oh yeah no problem. We’ve always raised you to understand that it doesn’t matter what gender or beliefs the person you care about has. If you like them you like them.” Ryan answered, and Vanessa nodded. 

“Actually we’ve been wondering about it all night.” Vanessa said, making Chloe blush a little. The blue haired girl finally let a breath out, one she felt like she had been holding ever since she started this trip. Max’s parents knew about them, and they were totally cool with it. That was a weight of her shoulders. Now she could just spend the next few days relaxing with her girlfriend, see the sights and have a good time.

“Oh, we might have forgot to mention. You’re grandparents are coming over tomorrow. Shall we surprise them by not telling them you’re here?” Vanessa said, and Chloe groaned. She wasn’t going to catch a brake after all. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Chloe quickly decided that Max’s bed was comfier than hers. Then again, Chloe’s cheap ass bed was barely a step above the bed she had slept on as a kid, so that wasn’t saying much. Chloe was now lying back on Max’s bed while Max sat by her computer, going through her emails or something. Chloe wasn’t really sure, she was partially in a food coma after dinner. They might not be as good cooks as Joyce, but Max’s parents sure did know how to cook. Now Chloe was looking through the few remaining photos along Max’s wall. It was strange to see how much had changed over the last few years, though somehow it seemed like Max had grown up more over the last few weeks than she had in the years. Though as Chloe considered it, so had she. They were both different people than the ones they had been before that week of rewind. It was nice that Max’s wacky powers were good for something. 

CLICK. A familiar clicking sound echoed from Max’s direction, and Chloe glanced over to see Max pointing a camera at her again. 

“What was that for?” Chloe asked. Max always had elaborate and beautiful explanations for her photos, at least in Chloe’s eyes. To her, a photo was just a picture of something. Max seemed to see so much more in it though. 

“I was just thinking how lucky I am. Despite all the odds, that we were able to meet again and get to this spot.” Max said. Chloe smiled. Now that was the girl she loved. She wasn’t going to say that bit out loud though, at least right now. 

“Gay.” Chloe said, and Max stuck her tongue out. Then Chloe continued. 

“Speaking of gay, you totally just came out in front of your parents. Nice job Maximus.” Chloe said, and Max smiled again. 

“Thanks. I know it seems silly, they were bound to be fine with it, but it was still tough, you know?” Max replied, and this time Chloe returned that smile.

“Girl, I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been scared of telling your parents about us since we set off this morning.” Chloe said. 

“Good point. Glad that went well.” Max answered. The two of them were silent for a moment, then Max spoke again.

“There we go!” Max exclaimed, and Chloe looked at her PC. Max was on Facebook. More specifically, Max had just her relationship settings to in a relationship with Chloe Price. 

“Seriously dude, you are too cute sometimes.” Chloe said with a shake of her head as she got up from the bed and walked over, kneeling down next to Max as she looked at her computer.

“Now it’s Facebook official, that means it’s serious.” Max said then giggled and shook her head.  
“OK maybe Facebook official doesn’t mean much, but it feels nice to say.” Max continued, leaving her Facebook page. Chloe frowned for a moment at that though.

“You OK with all your friends knowing? Will Kate be OK with it?” Chloe had to ask. Max frowned for a moment, then smiled again.

“Oh, Kate’s known for a while now. She’s cool with it. She wasn’t surprised in the least either.” Max replied. 

“Huh, isn’t that weird, it’s almost as if it’s incredibly obvious that we’re in love.” Chloe said sarcastically, and Max joined in.

“Gee, I wonder how they figured that out…” Max said, then lent forwards and kissed Chloe. A moment later and Max backed out of it, then turned back to her computer.

“So I was planning for our next few days…” Max started to say, then noticed Chloe wasn’t paying attention. 

“Huh, you never mentioned you were into WoW.” Chloe said, pointing at the small World of Warcraft icon on Max’s computer. 

“Hey, it’s a good game! Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!” Max retorted. Maybe Chloe would try it at some point, if only to troll the million other Warrens out there playing it. They would have continued their WoW themed conversation, but were interrupted by Chloe’s phone vibrating. Chloe sighed, it was probably just Joyce calling, despite the fact they had talked after dinner. To her surprise though, it was her Facebook notifications. Something that hadn’t gone off in what felt like years. There were two notifications. The first was Max declaring them in a relationship, the second was a private message from Victoria Chase of all people. 

_‘Just saw you two finally made it official. For real though, don’t be a bad influence on Max. She’s had enough shit from people already.’_ Victoria’s message read. Chloe laughed at that one, and showed Max. 

“Aww, that’s kinda cute, Victoria getting all protective. She still doesn’t like you apparently.” Max said, and glanced at what Chloe was typing back. 

_‘BIIIITTCH!!!...’_

“Chloe...” Max said disapprovingly, and Chloe gave a melodramatic sigh. 

“OK, I’ll be good to your dear friend Victoria. But only since you asked so nicely dearest Maxine.” Chloe response in her best rich woman’s accent. Max glared at her a moment, and Chloe sighed again and wrote a proper answer to Victoria. 

_‘Hey Vic! Don’t worry, I’ll be a great goodbadinfluence on her. Yours sincerely, lady Chloe Price.’_ Chloe responded. 

“You really are a good bad influence, you know that.” Max said to Chloe, her voice serious now. 

“So does that mean you’re gonna dye you hair red… or pink?” Chloe suggested, and Max shook her head. 

“You never know. I’d love to see my parent’s reaction to that one.” Max said, then Chloe’s phone went off again. It was Victoria once more.

 _‘Bitch.’_ The message said. Chloe laughed at that one. 

_‘jerk!’_ Chloe responded. Maybe Vic was cooler than she had thought after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a late coming out. This is the first full chapter where it's just from Chloe's point of view, and I'm a bit unsure about writing from her perspective. Feedback would be appreciated and I hope you enjoyed reading.
> 
> Edit: Thanks for everyone that gave feedback and comments on this chapter! I really appreciate it!


	8. An Epiprologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe head back to Arcadia Bay, but things quickly go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler upcoming!
> 
> This chapter is not just happiness and Pricefield.

Their brief holiday was over, even though it had felt like it had barely started. Max’s break wasn’t a very long one, but while she was sad it was over, she was excited to go and see all her friends at Blackwell again, even Victoria. She wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to that. This time they were leaving a bit late, since it really didn't matter if they got back to Arcadia Bay during rush hour. Even at it's busiest, the Bay seemed like a ghost town compared with Seattle. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to take anything else with you back to Blackwell? Do you have enough warm clothes?” her mum asked her in a worried tone. 

“I’ve got plenty, don’t worry about it.” Max responded even as she made sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. It would be so typical of her and Chloe to completely forget something and then have to get it mailed to them. Max didn’t have the best memory in the world, and Chloe... Chloe was Chloe. 

“And remember if you’re getting tired of school you can always take another break and visit us.” Vanessa continued on. 

“Come on Vanessa, if you continue to bother them then we’ll never kick them out.” Ryan said jokingly, which earned him a scowl from her in return. As Max finished going through her own bag to make sure she had everything, she saw Chloe come down the stairs. 

“Heya, we all ready to go Chlo?” Max asked her a Chloe casually put an arm around her. The two of them had been a bit awkward at first even holding hands in front of Max’s parents, but over the last few days things had calmed down a bit, even though Max’s grandparents had been very surprised to find out Max was dating a girl. 

“Think so, thanks for letting us stay and eat all your food.” Chloe said to Ryan and Vanessa. 

“No problem, thank you for making Max smile more than I think I’ve ever seen.” Ryan responded easily, and Max blushed a bit in embarrassment. 

“Thanks for pointing that out dad.” Max said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, next to her Chloe grinned. 

“Best thing I’ve ever been thanked for.” Chloe responded, and Max got even more embarrassed. They were both right of course, and she was so happy that her parents still seemed to love Chloe more than her, but it was embarrassing to have them all talk about it. 

“Right, you two had better get going, if you leave it any later it'll be dark before you get there.” Ryan said once they had stopped teasing Max. 

“At least we might see a nice sunset that way, but yeah, time to go.” Max agreed, and Chloe nodded too.

“Thanks for letting us stay, we had a really good time.” Chloe said as she picked up her bag. Before they could go, Vanessa and Ryan hugged them both and wished them a safe trip. Once the goodbyes were taken care of, Max and Chloe got back into the pick-up truck and started on the long journey back to Arcadia Bay.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drive back to Arcadia Bay was long, but time passed quickly between them, either listening to music or chatting about aimless things, and all too soon they reached their first brake stop, or more accurately after a few hours Max needed to use the restroom. Chloe stopped off at the next gas station, leaving Max to use the restroom as she went into the gas station to buy snacks for the road. 

Max got in and out of the restroom as quickly as she could. While she wasn’t insane about cleanliness, this one really needed a bit of work to approach anything near good in her books. She entered the gas station and looked for Chloe, she soon spotted her going through various bottles of alcohol. 

“Bit early for that isn’t it?” Max murmured, taking Chloe’s hand from behind. Chloe gasped slightly in surprise, Max still had her sneaking skills apparently. 

“It’s 11 somewhere right?” Chloe said jokingly, but Max knew it was actually for when they got to Joyce’s house. Max left Chloe to pay for the alcohol, she didn’t have her own fake ID to get any, and while she waited for Chloe to make the purchase, the door to the station opened up again. Max couldn’t see who it was from here, but she could hear them. 

“Shot it right between the eyes. You should have seen it, a brilliant shot.” One of the men bragged loudly. Max paused, her mind instantly brought back to when Jefferson had shot Chloe. 

“Between the eyes? Ya daft bastard, that ruins the trophy, what you gonna stick up on your wall, its arse?” Another man said, identifying them both as hunters. Max’s eyes tightened slightly as she continued to listen to them. She had never like hunting to begin with, taking another life as a sport was just wrong to her. Ever since the week of rewind, she had become an avid anti-gun campaigner. What was wrong with these people? As if on cue, a gunshot went off outside the store. Max started to panic, instinctively flinching back, and her mind instantly playing out terrible scenarios in her head. Even as she knew it was probably crazy, but she couldn’t see Chloe from where she was. What if…

“Chloe? **Chloe!!?** ” Max first whispered and then quickly shouted out in panic. Chloe came around the corner, having dropped her bags to rush over at Max’s cry. Chloe of course instantly realized what had happened, and folded Max in a hug. 

 

“It’s OK, I’m here with you. Calm down, everything’s fine.” Chloe whispered reassuringly, holding onto Max until she stopped shaking. Max didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but they were interrupted by another voice.

“Look at that, a single gunshot and they are cowering like children.” One of the previous voices said. Max looked up, to see two truckers standing on the far side of the aisle. Still in a shock, Max flinched back from them, she really didn’t want to deal with this now. Chloe was just angry. They had just crossed the line. Chloe had become a lot calmer since Max had arrived into her life, but there was one thing she would not accept; people trying to bully her girlfriend. They no idea how much she had fought through or any idea of what she had done. Chloe got up right away with fire in her eyes, and walked over to them, burning with sudden rage.

“You fucking idiots, you would be crying like a little kid if you had gone through what she has to. I dare you, say another word and I will break your jaw!” Chloe almost shouted at them, looking the one who had spoken right in the eyes as she did so. Despite the obvious aggression in her eyes, the idiots did not back down. 

“Is that a threat? Here’s a few words, you’re a bunch of fags.” The man said threateningly. To her credit, Chloe had warned him, and despite her warnings, Chloe’s punch took the man completely by surprise, hitting him square in the jaw and downing him in a single punch. The man next to him swore and reached down to his belt for a weapon. Then he paused in surprise, he looked down and found his weapon missing. Before he could do anything else Chloe kicked him in the balls, taking him out as well. Still angry, Chloe looked over to Max, they needed to get going before they got into serious trouble. But as Chloe turned around, Max wasn’t there. Suddenly there was a crashing sound by the door, then a thudding sound. It was Chloe’s turn to panic, and she rushed around the corner, fearing the worst. 

To Chloe’s surprise, she rushed around the corner to find Max standing over an unconscious man. The man had a rifle in his hands, he was probably the idiot who had fired the shot in the first place.   
“Damn Max, didn’t know you had it in you.” Chloe said, still terrified but also impressed. Max shook her head and dropped a heavy paint can to the ground. The two of them quickly ran out of the store, leaving her drinks behind along with a frightened store clerk as they ran to their pickup truck. Max and Chloe got in it at the same time, and as soon as the doors were closed Chloe punched it, speeding them away. 

A few minutes later and Chloe let out a sigh of relief. She had been in worse fights before, and out here she doubted anyone could or would press charges to being beaten up by some girls.   
“Wow Max. That was hella hard-core.” Chloe said eventually. For a moment there was silence, then Chloe turned to look at Max. There were tears coming down Max’s face, and she was looking at her right hand in horror. 

“Don’t worry Max, you didn’t seriously hurt the man. Though he would have deserved it.” Chloe said, misinterpreting Max’s tears for worry over the man she had hit. Max looked over at Chloe then, and Chloe saw a huge well of pain and regret in Max’s eyes. Something else was wrong here. Chloe swore slightly. Her first thought was that Max might be hurt. Chloe pulled the semi over on a nearby dirt path, hiding it from view of the road. Once they had stopped, Chloe turned to Max, now worried as well. 

“Max, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Chloe said worriedly. Max continued to sit there for a moment, and Chloe spoke again. 

“Max, speak to me.” Chloe said, getting more worried. Finally, Max looked over at her, as if seeing her for the first time. When Max did speak, it was spoken in a whisper so quiet Chloe could barely hear her. 

“Chloe… I’m sorry… I think I might have messed up.” Max whispered, tears still falling down her face. Chloe quickly looked over her, checking her for any wounds.

“Max, are you hurt? What happened?” Chloe asked. Max shook her head to Chloe’s first question, then took a deep breath to calm herself. The deep breath failed, and Max started to breath quicker, getting into a panic attack. Recognizing the signs by now, Chloe grabbed hold of Max again. 

“It’s OK, I’m here with you.” Chloe said quickly over and over again. This time however, Max spoke up.

“No, it’s not OK. Chloe, I really messed up.” Max whispered again. Chloe pulled away from her this time, looking at her seriously. 

“Max, what happened?” Chloe asked. It looked like Max wouldn’t speak again, but before Chloe could say anything else Max responded.

“I… I rewound time.” Max finally said, looking over at her right hand. From what Chloe remembered Max saying, whenever she had rewound time she would raise her right hand and somehow just do it. Chloe looked at Max for a moment in surprise, she had assumed that Max couldn’t do that anymore. As Chloe continued to be silent, Max continued. 

“You hit one of them, and the other pulled out a gun. I panicked, and I rewound time. I stole the gun from him. Then the other guy came in with a gun, so I rewound again and when he came in I hit him on the back of the head with the paint bucket. Chloe I am so sorry!” Max finished explaining, getting louder as she explained before she burst into tears again. The pieces suddenly fitted together in Chloe's head, how one of them had lost their gun, and how Max had so easily hit the other one from behind. 

“Max, you hella saved me again. There’s nothing to be sorry about.” Chloe said, trying to reassure Max, but Max shook her head. 

“Chloe! I stopped using the rewind because I almost got you killed! Oh god I fucked up….” Max said, worrying about what would happen. Chloe then remembered what Max had said before, that using her powers had caused the tornado in the first place, and how close Max had come to losing her before. Suddenly understanding, Chloe looked back to Max.

“You only did it once right? Surely that won’t cause the apocalypse or anything? You said you think it was because of all the long time travel right?” Chloe said. 

“Maybe, but I am not losing you again! Even if….” Max petered off, but Chloe knew what she was saying, even if it meant losing Arcadia Bay. 

“Max, you said there were loads of strange weather patterns and stuff, snow in October and so on right? If we see any freak weather patterns, then you can just rewind to a picture you took this morning or some time before using the power and make sure we never stop there. It will be all right.” Chloe said determinedly. This time, Max did calm down a bit. She stopped crying and just sat there for a moment, wiping her eyes with a now soaked tissue. Chloe could tell that Max thought it wouldn’t be that easy, but it was still a good plan of action. The two of them stayed there for a moment, then Chloe had to ask.

“Do you want to head back to your parents?” Chloe asked, and eventually Max shook her head. 

“No, we’ll need to be in Arcadia if something happens.” Max said, and Chloe nodded, understanding. Once Max had calmed down a bit more, Chloe turned on the truck again, and the got back onto the main road. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back on the main road, this time they didn’t stop. Though they knew it was super unlikely anything would happen again, neither of them wanted to take any chances. During the remainder of the drive, Max calmed down a bit more, realizing that if things really did go badly she could just travel back to another photograph and make sure not to use time travel again. Personally she felt like that was a convenient way to avoid taking any responsibility, but then she didn’t really understand how it all worked anyway. It was hard to figure how how your time travel worked when using it caused so many problems.

Chloe and Max didn’t stop driving until they were back in Arcadia. Thankfully Max didn’t see any signs of freak weather occurrence as they arrived, but she was still far from calm. Logically she knew that if worse came to worse, she could just go back in time to a photograph before they had left and just tell Chloe not to stop, but she wouldn’t do that unless she knew the storm would come again. Max was still totally against using her powers any more than she absolutely had to, she didn’t want to make things worse by abusing them like last time, if that had even been the cause. If she only knew how it all worked! Sadly, all of both her and Chloe’s long internet searches on time travel hadn’t come up with anything concrete. There were a lot of conflicting theories, and the few that were anywhere close to what Max had been through were incredibly vague on details. 

“Hey, you feeling any better?” Chloe asked. Max turned to see the worried look on Chloe’s face. Max wanted to just fake a smile and cheer her up, but she knew Chloe would see right through her. 

“Better than before at least. I’ll feel better once the sun starts to set and nothing freaky happens.” Max said. Chloe nodded, her eyes still fixed on the road. 

“So what happens if nothing happens? Does that mean the storm wasn’t caused by your power?” Chloe asked. Max thought about it for a moment. She really wished that if was that simple. 

“I wish. All it means is that it doesn’t make a storm happen right away after rewinding once or twice. If nothing happens I’ll still try not to use the rewind unless we absolutely have to.” Max said. Chloe glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow. Max didn’t need to rewind to tell what Chloe was thinking. 

“And no, absolutely have to doesn’t include using it to break into the school.” Max said, making Chloe finally smile.

“I wasn’t thinking that… at least not seriously. We’ll figure this out, together.” Chloe said reassuringly, and Max returned her smile. Now that did make her feel better. She was still terrified of course. It wasn’t a worry about having to go through everything again. As terrible as if had been, she was far more concerned about Chloe. It had felt like destiny had gone out of its way to kill Chloe, and if she was honest, they had been super lucky to escape it once. Then there was the other fear, that she would be forced into making the decision. Last time she had tried to be selfless and choose the good of the many over her own wishes, and she had ended up failing at that. If the storm was still coming, it might mean she still had to make the choice she never wanted to make.

The two of them were silent for the last part of their trip, they were too busy looking for anything out of the ordinary. They even made a detour and drove past the beach, but there were no signs of beached whales, dead birds or random snowfall. Feeling a bit more relieved, they headed back to Chloe’s house. As much as Max wanted to see all her friends and Blackwell again, she needed to be with Chloe for a bit longer. It was probably paranoia, but there was no way she was letting her blue-haired girlfriend out of her sight until they went through the entire day without anything strange happening. 

“Looks like Joyce and David are home.” Chloe commented at seeing light on in the house. Max looked over at Chloe. She still wasn’t used to Chloe call David by his real name rather than step-douche or something. 

“Good, I could use some Joyce cooking.” Max said. Though all of the worry, she had barely noticed that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast. 

“I hear you there. You staying here tonight?” Chloe asked as they pulled into the drive. 

“If you’ll have me.” Max answered, getting out of the car and picking up her bags. From the other side of the car, she heard Chloe snort. 

“You make that sound like a question.” Chloe responded, and Max smiled again. If she could rely on Chloe for anything, it was that she would be always there to catch her if she fell. The two of them entered, not bothering to knock on the door, and found Joyce and David sitting by the table. Judging from the empty plates, they had just finished dinner. 

“Hey there. You have a good trip back?” Joyce said, then looked up over at them. 

“You two look exhausted. Long drive?” Joyce asked them as she saw how tired they must look. Max wouldn’t be surprised if her eyes were bloodshot from crying and panicking. Max didn’t like lying to Joyce and David, but she didn’t want to tell them about her rewind either. 

“Yeah, I had a bit of a panic attack on the drive, I’m doing better now.” Max explained, and she saw David nod in understanding. 

“Poor dear. There’s still some food in the oven if you haven’t eaten.” Joyce said, pointing back toward the kitchen. 

“Thanks mum. You’re a lifesaver.” Chloe said. 

“I do try. Now you two sit down on the couch, I’ll serve some up for you. It sounds like you could do with a brake.” Joyce said kindly. 

“Thanks Joyce.” Max said, then sat down next to Chloe and turned on the TV. A moment later and they were given two large plates of lasagna. Joyce really was a lifesaver. 

“So how was things at Ryan and Vanessa’s place?” Joyce asked them. 

“That bit was great. I think my parents love Chloe more than me.” Max said, making Joyce and David laugh. 

“Some things never change. I miss spending time with them.” Joyce said. David looked a bit awkward, so Max decided to change the subject. 

“Things been quiet in Blackwell during the break?” Max asked David. 

“Yeah. It makes a nice change of pace. Things have been hectic for too long.” David said, then he coughed and continued in a more serious tone. 

“Also, we’ve got a fixed date for… for that memorial for Rachel. It’s not long away.” David said. Max felt Chloe tighten up at the mention of Rachel Amber. They had gone through the funeral shortly after her body had been found. But because of the agreement Max had made with the Prescotts, they had also commissioned a memorial to Rachel. Right now Max didn’t want to think about anything to do with the Precotts, so she put it out of her mind. 

“So how have things been here? Weather been good?” Chloe suddenly asked. Max didn’t react to the question, but she was listening intently to the answer. 

“Same old same old. It was a quiet day in the diner.” Joyce replied, not understanding the real meaning behind Chloe’s question. Max looked out the window, she couldn’t see the sun with all the houses blocking her view. That was good right? If it was getting dark soon and she there weren’t any freakish weather patterns, then maybe they had dodged a bullet after all? Once she had finished her meal, Max lent against Chloe and relaxed a bit, keeping her eye on the windows in case she saw something strange. They stayed like that for just over an hour until the sun had finished setting. Max hadn’t seen any snow or dead birds. Just to be extra safe, she quickly checked the internet on her phone, there was no mention of any beached whales either. After a while Joyce and David left to get an early night, leaving the two of them alone.

“You OK?” Chloe whispered next to her. Max looked back into Chloe’s eyes and let out a relieved sigh. 

“I think so. Nothing strange happened. Sorry about that.” Max finally said. 

“Don’t apologize, I was hella worried too.” Chloe said. Max was silent for a moment. Though Chloe didn’t mention it, Max knew that she kept on having doubts about herself, worrying that she wasn’t good enough. But Chloe had probably been worrying just as much as Max if not more, but she had put it aside so that Max could feel better. Even after everything that had happened to Chloe, who had gone through so much at such a young age, she was still so strong and thoughtful. Maybe Max was biased, or maybe she just knew Chloe really well, but in her eyes Chloe was the most brilliant person she had ever met. 

“I love you, ya’know.” Max said quietly. 

“Yeah I know.” Chloe replied, and Max didn’t have to look at her to know she was smirking. 

“You’re meant to say I love you back.” Max said, trying her best to sound hurt and not smile. 

“OK. I love you more than anything in the world, you are my light and all that mushy stuff. Happy?” Chloe said with an exaggerated sigh. Max giggled and nodded. 

“Happy.” Max said, snuggling back into Chloe. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max was back. The wind was howling through the trees, lighting illuminating the dark nightmare landscape around her. But as much as she wished otherwise, Max knew this wasn’t a nightmare. You didn’t feel the rain chill your body in a dream, and even though her mind was screaming in fear and anger, she couldn’t wake up. Max flinched as the thunder sounded around her, but she couldn’t wake up. She was back at the lighthouse, back in this same vision of the storm wiping out Acadia Bay. Just ahead of her she could see the lighthouse, still standing tall against the storm. Though the tall evergreens blocked her sight, Max knew the tornado was pulling into Arcadia, destroying everything in its path as nature cleaned the slate clean. 

“What? No. No you can’t do this to me again.” Max whispered to herself. She felt a surge of anger at the unfairness of it all, mixed with the exhaustion and grief of it not being over yet. Why? Why couldn’t she be allowed to just live her life? As if in answer to her thoughts, a translucent Doe appeared in front of her, looking straight at her. From what she had learned, it was meant to be her spirit animal. Max had though spirit guides were meant to guide people. But after everything that had happened, whenever she saw the doe, only darkness came after. The first time she had seen the vision of the storm, Max had assumed she was meant to use her powers to stop the storm, and had almost destroyed reality because of it. Suddenly angry, Max started shouting at the doe.

**“Why! Haven’t I suffered enough already! I won’t do it! I won’t kill Chloe!”** Max shouted at it. As if in answer, the Doe looked at her, then jumped over to the fences against the cliffs. It looked down at a newspaper and then back to Max, as if pointing towards it. 

“What’s the point? You just want me to kill the one I love the most!” Max continued to shout at it, but it continued, tapping a hoof against the paper. Max almost screamed in anger, but walked over to it, being careful not to get blown off the cliff by the wind. She could now see the tornado approaching Arcadia Bay. Somehow it looked even larger than it had before. Now that Max looked more closely, there were other smaller differences as well. Something was off. She had been given the vision of the storm multiple times, but they had always been the same. Something had changed. A bit confused now, Max looked down at the doe next to her, and picked up the paper. 

‘Grand Opening of Pan Estates.’ The main cover read. Max looked over to the date on the paper, it was set to happen in about a weeks time. This was just like before. They tried to make Max think she could save everything, but instead she had caused it all to happen. Max allowed herself to fall to her knees, so that she was looking the doe right in the eyes. 

“Why are you showing me this? Last time you convinced me to use my power to change things, but I was the one to cause it in the first place! What are you trying to show…” Max broke off from her tirade as she doe shook its head, and Max paused for a moment. 

Something didn’t add up. It had never added up, but with everything else happening she had been able to ignore it before. The storm was not here to force Chloe to die, when Chloe had been shot by Jefferson it had happened anyway. It also wasn’t because of Max abusing her powers. She had gone back and changed only one thing before then stopped, when she had got Jefferson and Nathan arrested before anything could happen, but the storm had still happened in that time as well. The only thing different this time from then had been Max getting shot by Nathan. Was it the events that had changed things? It took Max a moment, but then her eyes opened wide as she realized. 

“It wasn’t me. Something else is causing the storm.” Max whispered, the tears she had unknowingly be crying froze on her cheeks. This time, the doe nodded.

“And I stopped it last time?” Max asked, and the doe shook its head.

“I didn’t stop it? I… I postponed it?” Max asked, and the doe nodded. She got the feeling the vision was coming to an end, though she wasn’t sure how she knew. It all now made more sense- why she had got her vision before ever using her powers, why nothing had seemed to stop the storm until it accidentally just happened. She had it all wrong. Neither Max nor Chloe had been the cause of the storm, it was something else, something they had missed. Max felt a strange mixture of relief that she had not caused all this destruction, but dread at knowing that it wasn’t over, the storm could still happen and she had no idea how to stop it. Max only had one more yes or no question.

“Can I stop it?” Max asked, and this time the doe paused, then gave a barely noticeable shrug, as if to say ‘you have a chance, but not a good one’. Then the doe looked back up at her, meeting her eyes, and it vanished. Max had time to have one last look out at the storm just as it reached Arcadia Bay. This tornado was larger than the one before. Max felt a mix of determination and dread almost overwhelm her. Somehow, a part of her was relieved. If the storm wasn’t caused Chloe, it meant she would never have to make that terrible choice. That was truly a huge weight off her shoulders. 

On the other hand, the last time this had happened, she had almost lost everything and everyone. Even after accidentally stopping it, it turned out she had only postponed it. It seemed like both her and the storm would be given one last chance, one last chance for Max to save everyone, and the storm one last chance to destroy everything. 

“Max! Please wake up!” A voice shouted out to her, and Max instantly recognized Chloe’s voice. She allowed the vision to end, finding herself back in bed, with Chloe sitting next to her.

“Thank god you’re awake. What happened? One moment you were talking with me, then your nose started bleeding and you passed out. Please tell me you’re OK?” Chloe said in a slightly panicked tone. Max sighed for a moment, taking out a tissue and wiping the blood from her face. 

“Chloe, It’s not over, the storm may still happen. We’ve got a lot to do. This strange life of ours is about to get stranger yet.” Max said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was the epilogue for this part, but also the prologue for One Last Chance: Part 2. I never actually tried to plug some of the plot-holes of Life is Strange in this part, that will be done in Part 2, which I will start uploading soon. 
> 
> This is the end of part 1, part 2 will involve a more Life is Strange like story, but not as dark and with a happy ending. I hope you enjoyed reading this so far!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! As much as l love Life is Strange, I was never satisfied with the endings, partly because it wasn't happy in the slightest, but also because it didn't seem to actually answer the cause of the storm either.


End file.
